Corsika+Herwig Monte Carlo Simulation of Neutrino Induced Atmospheric Air Showers

Abstract

High-energy neutrino astronomy represents an open window both on astrophysical mechanisms of particle acceleration and on fundamental interactions. The possibility of detecting them in large earth-based apparatus, like AUGER, AMANDA, ANTARES, is quite challenging. In view of this, the capability of generating reliable simulations of air showers induced by neutrinos is mandatory in the analysis of experimental data. In this paper we describe preliminary results towards the development of a new version of the Monte Carlo CORSIKA, capable of handling neutrinos too as primary particles. In our approach the first interaction of the primary neutrino is simulated in CORSIKA with a call to the HERWIG event generator.