Estimates of the cosmic gamma-ray flux at PeV to EeV energies from the EAS-MSU experiment data
Yu. A. Fomin, N. N. Kalmykov, G. V. Kulikov, V. P. Sulakov, S. V. Troitsky+
Skobeltsyn Institute of Nuclear Physics, Lomonosov MSU,
119991 Moscow, Russia
+Institute for Nuclear Research of the RAS, 117312 Moscow, Russia
Abstract
Archival EAS-MSU data are searched for anomalous muonless
events which
may be caused by primary gamma rays with energies between 1015 and
1018 eV. We
consider a refined sample of high-quality data and
confirm the previously reported detection of a non-zero
gamma-ray flux at eV
with a similar flux value but at somewhat lower statistical significance,
corresponding to a depletion of the sample. We
present upper limits on the flux below and
above these energies, including the first constraints in the range
1016.5 -1017.5 eV never studied by any other
experiment.