Multiple muons in the Utah detector. II. Comparison with a hadronic scaling model

Detailed predictions are made for the multiple-muon--event rates measured in the underground muon experiment at the University of Utah. In our calculations, Feynman scaling is used to project inclusive proton-nucleus particle production cross sections from 19.2-GeV accelerator measurements to the ultrahigh-energy region from 1 TeV to 10 000 TeV. The multiplicity distribution is assumed to follow Koba-Nielsen-Olesen scaling. The primary cosmic-ray spectrum and composition are extrapolated upwards from the direct measurements made at less than a few TeV. Rates are calculated for detected multiplicities n/subD/=1--30 observed over a zenith angle range 30degree--72degree and over a depth range of 1.5times105--106 g cm-2. Good agreement between predictions and measurements has been obtained with scaling and such a simple extrapolation to higher energies of the directly measured primary spectrum and composition