I. I. Yashin

The URAGAN wide-aperture large-area muon hodoscope

The URAGAN wide-aperture large-area multilayer muon hodoscope is developed for the NEVOD experimental complex of the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute. The hodoscope will be used to study atmospheric and heliospheric processes responsible for variations in the muon flux at the Earth’s surface. The structures of the detector and its system of data acquisition and processing are described. The data obtained during continuous sets of measurements in 2005–2006 using the first two supermodules of the setup are analyzed, and preliminary results of this analysis are discussed.

Investigation of the properties of the flux and interaction of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays by the method of local-muon-density spectra

A new method for studying extensive air showers is considered. The method is based on the phenomenology of the localmuon density. It is shown that measurement ofmuon-density spectra at various zenith angles makes it possible to obtain information about the energy spectrum, mass composition, and interaction of cosmic rays over a broad range of energies (1015–1018 eV) by using a single array of comparatively small size. The results obtained from a comparison of experimental data on muon bundles from the DECOR coordinate detector with the results of simulation performed under various assumptions on the properties of the primary flux and for various hadron-interaction models are presented, and possible versions of the interpretation of these results are discussed.

The array for EAS neutron component detection

The idea of a novel type detector array is the following: delayed thermal neutrons generated by hadronic component of Extensive Air Showers (EAS) can be detected over the whole array area using special electron-neutron detectors (en-detectors). The array PRISMA-32 consists of 32 en-detectors, deployed over the area of 450 m2. En-detectors are able to detect two main EAS components: electromagnetic one in a case of a synchronous passage of several charged particles, and hadronic component through thermal neutron captures. Detectors are based on a specialized inorganic scintillator, being a granulated alloy of ZnS(Ag) with LiF, enriched up to 90% with 6Li isotope. The array is triggered by the electromagnetic component of EAS, and provides information about the energy deposit (mostly electrons) and delayed neutrons accompanying the EAS within 20 ms after the trigger. During 2 years of operation more than 105 events were recorded. Examples of EAS detection are presented.

Ultra-high energy cosmic ray investigations by means of EAS muon density measurements

A new approach to investigations of ultra-high energy cosmic rays based on the ground-level measurements of the spectra of local density of EAS muons at various zenith angles is considered. Basic features of the local muon density phenomenology are illustrated using a simple semi-analytical model. It is shown that muon density spectra are sensitive to the spectrum slope, primary composition, and to the features of hadronic interaction. New experimental data on muon bundles at zenith angles from 30° to horizon obtained with the coordinate detector DECOR are compared with CORSIKA-based simulations. It is found that measurements of muon density spectra in inclined EAS give possibility to study characteristics of primary cosmic ray flux in a very wide energy range from 10 15 to 10 19 eV.

Long-term variations in the muon flux angular distribution

The intensity of the atmospheric muon flux depends on many factors: the energy spectrum of primary cosmic rays and the state of the Earth’s heliosphere, magnetosphere, and atmosphere. The wide-aperture URAGAN muon hodoscope (Moscow, Russia, 55.7° N, 37.7° E, 173 m a.s.l.) makes it possible to investigate not only variations in the muon flux intensity but also temporal changes in the parameters of its angular distribution. These changes are analyzed using the vector of local anisotropy and its projections, which have different sensitivities to the parameters of modulation of both primary cosmic rays in the heliosphere and the Earth’s magnetosphere and secondary cosmic rays as they pass through the Earth’s atmosphere. The vector of local anisotropy is the sum of unit vectors (directions of the reconstructed muon tracks) normalized to the number of tracks. The results of an analysis of long-term variations in mean hourly projections of the vector of local anisotropy obtained from the 2007–2011 URAGAN hodoscope data are presented.

Observation of heliospheric disturbances in the muon component of cosmic rays

The possibilities of using ground-based muon hodoscopes to study heliospheric disturbances are discussed. Mapping of the matrices of muon flux angular distributions recorded at the ground level in geocentric solar ecliptic coordinates with allowance for the asymptotic directions of primary protons of galactic cosmic rays makes it possible to observe the dynamics of heliospheric disturbances in the near-Earth space. Variations in some other characteristics of muon flux angular distributions are also analyzed.

Energy spectrum of cascade showers generated in water by near-horizontal muons

We discuss measuring cascade shower energy using the NEVOD Cherenkov water detector with a spatial lattice of quasi-spherical modules (QSMs). Dense QSM spacing makes it possible to reconstruct a number of cascade particles along the shower axis from the PMT response amplitude. Our cascade curve reconstruction technique is applied to showers generated by near-horizontal high-energy muons selected using the DECOR coordinate detector deployed around NEVOD. The first results from cascade energy spectrum measurements are reported.

NEVOD-DECOR experiment: results and future

Russian-Italian NEVOD-DECOR experiment on the measurements of the local muon density spectra (LMDS) at various zenith angles gave possibility to obtain information on primary cosmic ray flux and interaction characteristics in a record wide energy range from 1015 to more than 1018 eV. Comparison of the measurement results with CORSIKA-based simulations showed the increase of LMDS slope at PeV energies of primaries (corresponding to the first knee); a trend to a heavier primary mass composition above the knee; indication for a second knee (a further increase of the spectrum slope near 1017 eV). At large zenith angles and high muon densities (corresponding to primary energies around 1018 eV) a considerable excess of muon bundle events in comparison with the expectation based on independent estimates of the primary spectrum and widely used hadron interaction models has been found. In 2011, a new phase of measurements of the energy spectrum of cascade showers initiated by high-energy muons in water and of the energy deposit of muon bundles at various zenith angles and muon multiplicities started. Further plans include the deployment of a traditional EAS array around the NEVOD-DECOR complex.

Study of the temporal structure of the EAS neutron component

Experimental data on detecting the thermal neutrons that accompany extensive air showers (EAS) over a long period of time (May 2009–April 2010) are presented. The data were obtained by means of prototype for an innovative new array (PRISMA) for EAS study. The workability of this array and its ability to yield completely new information on the hadron and electron components of EAS was checked experimentally over long period of time (in the minimal version of the prototype).

Specific features of studying Forbush decreases in the muon flux

The variations in the cosmic ray (CR) muon flux during the Forbush decreases (FDs), registered by the DECOR muon detector and the URAGAN muon hodoscope during the periods of their operation from 2004 to 2006, are analyzed. The unified method for determining the parameters of variations in the CR flux during FDs has been developed, and the dependences of the FD characteristics on the rigidity of primary CRs and information about the spatial-angular dynamics of the muon flux during FDs have been obtained.