Characterization of monopole induced air showers using CORSIKA

Abstract: In this thesis a characterization of air showers induced by magnetic monopoles is presented. Monopoles are predicted to exist and be accelerated to relativistic velocities. High energy monopoles traversing earth’s atmosphere continuously deposit energy, inducing an air shower. These air showers have been described based on simulations run in CORSIKA. It was found that monopole air showers are continuous; they plateau after the shower maximum, and have a large electromagnetic component. As such,they can easily be distinguished from normal cosmic rays and most other air shower sources. Very high energy photons and muons could induce similar showers but do not produce identical signals in track-following detectors such as IceCube.