Role of very-high-energy muons in generation of penetrating cascades in the Pamir experiment

Abstract

The question of processes responsible for some unusual events with the energy deposition over 100 TeV recorded in X-ray emulsion chambers (XECs) of the Pamir experiment is still open. Among the events of this type are penetrating cascades in deep lead XECs. The evaluations show that these events can be qualitatively explained by multiple interactions of muons with energies in the PeV range. In this work, the expected number of penetrating cascades induced in the Pamir XECs by very-high-energy muons is calculated for different muon generation processes in the atmosphere.