Effect of the muon component of cosmic rays on the results of hadron experiments with the big ionization calorimeter (BIC) of the Tien Shan station

A full-scale simulation of the response of the big ionization calorimeter (BIC) at the Tien Shan station to the passage of single protons and muons was performed on the basis of the GEANT4 package in order to estimate the contribution of the muon cosmic-ray component to the generation of unusual events (such as Anti-Centauros), which were recorded by this facility, and to the imitation of the long-flying component, which changes the shape of the average cascade curve. A comparison of the results of this simulation with experimental data reveals that the appearance of Anti-Centauros may be reasonably explained by the contribution of multiple interactions of single muons, but that muon events are insufficient for explaining the change in the shape of the cascade curve (in particular, the emergence of a second maximum)