Lateral distributions of EAS muons (Eμ>800 MeV) measured with the KASCADE-Grande Muon Tracking Detector in the primary energy range 1016–1017 eV

Abstract

The KASCADE-Grande large area (128 m2) Muon Tracking Detector has been built with the aim to identify muons (Eμthr = 800 MeV) in Extensive Air Showers by track measurements under 18 r.l. shielding. This detector provides high-accuracy angular information (approx. 0.3°) for muons up to 700 m distance from the shower core. In this work we present the lateral density distributions of muons in EAS measured with the Muon Tracking Detector of the KASCADE-Grande experiment. The density is calculated by counting muon tracks in a muon-to-shower-axis distance range from 100 m to 610 m from showers with reconstructed energy of 1016–1017 eV and zenith angle θ<18°. In the distance range covered by the experiment, these distributions are well described by functions phenomenologically determined already in the fifties (of the last century) by Greisen. They are compared also with the distributions obtained with the KASCADE scintillator array (Eμthr = 230 MeV) and with distributions obtained using simulated showers.