Cascade Particles in Extensive Air Showers with Energy Above 1017 eV According to Longstanding Measurements at the Yakutsk Array

Abstract

Lateral distribution of cascade particles was studied in extensive air showers initiated by cosmic rays with energy above 10¹⁷ eV. The study is based on the data collected with ground-based scintillation detectors of the Yakutsk array during the continuous observational period from 1977 to 2017. Particle density measured in experiment is compared to the results of simulations performed for primary protons and iron nuclei within the framework of four ultra-high energy hadronic interaction models. Particle density obtained in the simulation was converted to signal of the scintillation detectors of the array. From the parameters of the resulted lateral distribution function, features of extensive air showers longitudinal development were derived.