Muons in showers with energy $\boldsymbol{E_{0} \geq}$ 5 EeV and QGSjetII-04 and EPOS LHC models of hadronic interactions. Is there a muon deficit in the models?

Abstract

The paper presents data on the muon component with a threshold $\varepsilon_{thr} ≥$ 1 GeV. Air showers were registered at the Yakutsk array during almost 50 years of continuous air shower observations. The characteristics of muons are compared with calculations of QGSjetII-04 and EPOS LHC models for a proton and an iron nucleus. There is a muon deficit in the models, at energies greater than 5 EeV. To make an agreement between experimental data and simulations on muons, further tuning of the models is required.