Nuclear composition of 1-to 20-PeV primary cosmic rays according to lateral features of the electron-photon component of all extensive air showers and of extensive air showers accompanying high-energy gamma rays and hadrons in x-ray emulsion chambers at the Tien Shan level

Abstract

Data from the Tien Shan array Adron on the dependence of the lateral distributions of the electron-photon component (age parameter S) in extensive air showers of cosmic rays on the number of electrons, Ne, which is a quantity that characterizes the primary-nucleus energy E0, are subjected to a comparative analysis. The distributions in question are given both for all showers and for showers accompanying high-energy gamma rays and hadrons in x-ray emulsion chambers. According to calculations, events associated with the latter are generated predominantly by primary protons, and this makes it possible to assess their role at various values of E0. The distributions with respect to S suggest a significant fraction of light nuclei, predominantly protons, in the region after the knee in the spectrum for Ne>106, at least up to Ne=5.6×106 (E0 ∼ 10 PeV).