  It is very well known that the fraction of energy in a hadron collision going
into electromagnetic particles (electrons and photons, including those from
decays) has a large impact on the number of muons produced in air shower
cascades. Recent measurements at the LHC confirm features that can be linked to
a mixture of different underlying particle production mechanisms such as a
collective statistical hadronization (core) in addition to the expected string
fragmentation (corona). Since the two mechanisms have a different
electromagnetic energy fraction, we present a possible connection between
statistical hadronization in hadron collisions and muon production in air
showers. Using a novel approach, we demonstrate that the core-corona effect as
observed at the LHC could be part of the solution for the lack of muon
production in simulations of high energy cosmic rays. To probe this hypothesis,
we study hadronization in high energy hadron collisions using calorimetric
information over a large range of pseudorapidity in combination with the
multiplicity of central tracks. As an experimental observable, we propose the
production of energy in electromagnetic particles versus hadrons, as a function
of pseudorapidity and central charged particle multiplicity.
