MUONS WITH Eth ≥ 1 GEV AND MASS COMPOSITION IN THE ENERGY RANGE 10 18 − 10 20 EV OBSERVED BY YAKUTSK EAS ARRAY

The ratio of the muon flux density to charged particle flux density at distances of 300 and 600 m from the shower axis (ρµ(300)/ρs(300) and ρµ(600)/ρs(600)) is measured. In addition, the energy dependence of ρµ(1000) is analysed for showers with energies above 10 18 eV. A comparison between the expe...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: S. P. Knurenko, V. A. Kolosov, I. T. Makarov, I. Ye. Sleptsov, V. R. Sleptsova, G. G. Struchkov
Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: 2004
Subjects:
Online Access:http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.255.3073
http://arxiv.org/pdf/astro-ph/0411683v2.pdf
Description
Summary:The ratio of the muon flux density to charged particle flux density at distances of 300 and 600 m from the shower axis (ρµ(300)/ρs(300) and ρµ(600)/ρs(600)) is measured. In addition, the energy dependence of ρµ(1000) is analysed for showers with energies above 10 18 eV. A comparison between the experimental data and calculations performed with the QGSJET model is given for the cases of primary proton, iron nucleus and gamma- ray. We conclude that the showers with E0 ≥ 3 × 10 18 eV can be formed by light nuclei with a pronounced fraction of protons and helium nuclei. It is not excluded however that a small part of showers with energies above 10 19 eV could be initiated by primary gamma-rays.