Physics and Fluorescence Detection of Cosmic Ray Air Showers with Energies Between 10$^{16.5}$ eV and 10$^{19}$ eV

The Telescope Array (TA) Experiment has been observing cosmic ray air showers at energies above 10$^{18}$ eV since 2008. The TA detectors include fluorescence telescopes that look between 3and 33in elevation and a surface array consisting of 507 plastic scintillators layed out on a 1.2km square grid. The TA collaboration is currently installing fluorescence telescopes that look between 33and 59in elevation and starting the construction of a graded infill array of surface detectors spaced at 400m and 600m. With these upgrades, the physics threshold of TA will be lowered to 10$^{16.5}$ eV. The TA Low Energy Extension (TALE) will explore the energy regime corresponding to that of the LHC in center-of-mass frame. This is also the range where the transition from galactic to extra- galactic cosmic ray flux is suspected to occur. We will give a brief overview of the physics of TALE, and report on the progress of the new fluorescence telescopes.