Study of the spatiotemporal structure of extensive air showers at high energies

Abstract

In a series of works carried out at the Tien-Shan High Altitude Science Station (TSHASS), a penetrating component of extensive air showers (EAS) caused by cosmic rays (CR) with energy of the primary particle above 1 PeV was discovered. The local increase in the energy of secondary hadrons in the EAS cores in the region of the CR spectrum slope change around energy of 3 PeV, the so-called “knee”. The problem of knee formation currently is one of the currently still open mysteries in astrophysics. The studies carried out at the TSHASS show that more information on the knee region can be obtained by studying the characteristics of the EAS cores. At present, a large installation with an area of several hundred square meters is being constructed at the station to study the EAS cores in the “knee” region. The installation is located at an altitude of 3330 meters above sea level near the city of Almaty, Kazakhstan.