Piritakua: the atmosphere as a high-energy physics laboratory

Abstract

The atmosphere provides a large set of experimental conditions on which cosmic-ray induced high-energy hadron interactions can take place. These conditions include: sudden changes in the atmospheric pressure, temperature, and in the local electric and magnetic fields. In this talk we introduce the Piritakua (flash of lightning, in the language of the pre-Columbian Pur\'epecha Empire in Mexico) project, a cosmic-ray detector located at the Instituto de F\'isica of UNAM, in Mexico City at 2280 m. a.s.l. The experiment consists of a small array of scintillator detectors, which use the electronics developed by the CosmicWatch project. The scintillators operate simultaneously with an electric field meter, a magnetometer, a meteorological station, and a hemispheric camera. We propose to use Piritakua to study the modification of the secondary particle production and propagation under sudden variations in the standard atmospheric properties. We present the current status and the first results of the experiment.