This article is cited in 14 papers

ASTROPHYSICS AND COSMOLOGY

Mass composition of cosmic rays with energies above 10$^{17}$ eV according to the data from the muon detectors of the Yakutsk EAS array

A. V. Glushkov, A. V. Saburov

Shafer Institute of Cosmophysical Research and Aeronomy, Yakut Research Center, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Yakutsk, Russia

Abstract: The lateral distribution of muons in extensive air showers with energies above 10$^{17}$ eV detected by underground scintillation detectors with a threshold of 1.0 GeV at the Yakutsk array in 1986–2016 has been analyzed. The experimental data on the muon flux density at a distance of 300 m from the shower axis have been compared to the calculations within various models of hadron interactions at ultrahigh energies. The experimental data are in the best agreement with the QGSJet01 and QGSJet II-04 models. The mass composition of cosmic rays in the energy range of $(1-30) \times 10^{17}$ eV changes from middle nuclei to a purely proton composition.

Received: 22.02.2019
Revised: 22.03.2019
Accepted: 27.03.2019

DOI: 10.1134/S0370274X19090017

 English version: Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Physics Letters, 2019, 109:9, 559–563

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