Intensity of muon bundles according to the NEVOD-DECOR cosmic ray experiment

Abstract Data of NEVOD-DECOR experiment on investigations of inclined cosmic ray muon bundles for a long time period (May 2012 – May 2020) are presented. Their comparison with the results of calculations based on simulations of extensive air shower hadron and muon components is carried out. The analysis showed that the observed intensity of muon bundles at primary particle energies of about 1018 eV and higher can be compatible with the expectation only under the assumption of an extremely heavy mass composition of cosmic rays. On the contrary, measurements of the depth of the shower maximum in the atmosphere in the experiments using air fluorescence technique, favour a light mass composition of primary cosmic rays at these energies.