Gamma-astronomy in the UHE region by using an array of muon detectors

Abstract. The future gamma astronomy experiments should face the gamma sources search in a wide energy range: from approximately 100 GeV up to tens of TeV. To observe a statistically significant sample of photons with energies above tens TeV, large ground-based detectors are needed. The primary gamma-rays are measured by detecting the extensive air showers (EASs) produced by their interaction with the atmosphere. In this paper the contribution of the measurement of the muon content in EAS detectors operating to search gamma sources at the energy of tens TeV is presented. By using Monte Carlo methods, a muon detector, distributed over an area of about 1 km2, was simulated. The sensitivity of this apparatus is discussed; the minimum measurable fluence is also presented