We present the first measurement of the fluctuations in the number of muons in extensive air showers produced by ultrahigh energy cosmic rays. We find that the measured fluctuations are in good agreement with predictions from air shower simulations. This observation provides new insights into the origin of the previously reported deficit of muons in air shower simulations and constrains models of hadronic interactions at ultrahigh energies. Our measurement is compatible with the muon deficit originating from small deviations in the predictions from hadronic interaction models of particle production that accumulate as the showers develop.

3 Physikalisches Institut A RWTH Aachen University Aachen Germany

Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla Puebla México

Case Western Reserve University Cleveland Ohio USA

Center for Astrophysics and Cosmology University of Nova Gorica Nova Gorica Slovenia

Centro Atómico Bariloche and Instituto Balseiro San Carlos de Bariloche Argentina

Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Fisicas Rio de Janeiro Brazil

Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del IPN México Distrito Federal México

Centro de Investigaciones en Láseres y Aplicaciones CITEDEF and CONICET Villa Martelli Argentina

Centro Federal de Educação Tecnológica Celso Suckow da Fonseca Nova Friburgo Brazil

Charles University Faculty of Mathematics and Physics Institute of Particle and Nuclear Physics Prague Czech Republic

CNRS IN2P3 IJCLab Université Paris Saclay Orsay France

Colorado School of Mines Golden Colorado USA

Colorado State University Fort Collins Colorado USA

Departamento de Física and Departamento de Ciencias de la Atmósfera y los Océanos FCEyN Universidad de Buenos Aires and CONICET Buenos Aires Argentina

Department of Physics and Astronomy Bartol Research Institute University of Delaware Newark Delaware USA

Department of Physics and Astronomy Lehman College City University of New York Bronx New York USA

Department of Physics Bergische Universität Wuppertal Wuppertal Germany

Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia Università di Catania Catania Italy

Dipartimento di Fisica Ettore Pancini Università di Napoli Federico 2 Napoli Italy

Dipartimento di Fisica Università di Milano Milano Italy

Dipartimento di Fisica Università di Roma Tor Vergata Roma Italy

Dipartimento di Fisica Università Torino Torino Italy

Dipartimento di Matematica e Fisica E De Giorgi Università del Salento Lecce Italy

Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Aerospaziali Politecnico di Milano Milano Italy

Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche e Chimiche Università dell'Aquila L'Aquila Italy

Experimental Particle Physics Department J Stefan Institute Ljubljana Slovenia

Faculty of Astrophysics University of Łódź Łódź Poland

Faculty of High Energy Astrophysics University of Łódź Łódź Poland

Faculty of Science Universiteit van Amsterdam Amsterdam The Netherlands

Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory Batavia Illinois USA

Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory Fermilab Batavia Illinois USA

Gran Sasso Science Institute L'Aquila Italy

Horia Hulubei National Institute for Physics and Nuclear Engineering Bucharest Magurele Romania

IFLP Universidad Nacional de La Plata and CONICET La Plata Argentina

IMAPP Radboud University Nijmegen Nijmegen The Netherlands

INFN Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso Assergi Italy

INFN Sezione di Catania Catania Italy

INFN Sezione di Lecce Lecce Italy

INFN Sezione di Milano Milano Italy

INFN Sezione di Napoli Napoli Italy

INFN Sezione di Roma Tor Vergata Roma Italy

INFN Sezione di Torino Torino Italy

Institute of Nuclear Physics PAN Krakow Poland

Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences Prague Czech Republic

Institute of Space Science Bucharest Magurele Romania

Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio Buenos Aires Argentina

Instituto de Física de Rosario CONICET U N R and Facultad de Ciencias Bioquímicas y Farmacéuticas Universidad Nacional de Rosario Rosario Argentina

Instituto de Física de São Carlos Universidade de São Paulo São Carlos São Paulo Brazil

Instituto de Física Universidade de São Paulo São Paulo Brazil

Instituto de Física Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro Brazil

Instituto de Tecnologías en Detección y Astropartículas Buenos Aires Argentina

Instituto de Tecnologías en Detección y Astropartículas Mendoza Argentina

Instituto Galego de Física de Altas Enerxías Universidade de Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela Spain

Karlsruhe Institute of Technology Institut für Kernphysik Karlsruhe Germany

Karlsruhe Institute of Technology Institut für Prozessdatenverarbeitung und Elektronik Karlsruhe Germany

Karlsruhe Institute of Technology Institute for Experimental Particle Physics Karlsruhe Germany

KVI Center for Advanced Radiation Technology University of Groningen Groningen The Netherlands

Laboratoire de Physique Nucléaire et de Hautes Energies Sorbonne Université Université de Paris CNRS IN2P3 Paris France

Laboratório de Instrumentação e Física Experimental de Partículas LIP and Instituto Superior Técnico IST Universidade de Lisboa UL Lisboa Portugal

Louisiana State University Baton Rouge Louisiana USA

Max Planck Institut für Radioastronomie Bonn Germany

Michigan Technological University Houghton Michigan USA

Nationaal Instituut voor Kernfysica en Hoge Energie Fysica Science Park Amsterdam The Netherlands

New York University New York New York USA

Observatorio Pierre Auger and Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica Malargüe Argentina

Observatorio Pierre Auger Malargüe Argentina

Osservatorio Astrofisico di Torino Torino Italy

Palacky University RCPTM Olomouc Czech Republic

Pennsylvania State University University Park Pennsylvania USA

School of Physics and Astronomy University of Leeds Leeds United Kingdom

Stichting Astronomisch Onderzoek in Nederland Dwingeloo The Netherlands

Unidad Profesional Interdisciplinaria en Ingeniería y Tecnologías Avanzadas del Instituto Politécnico Nacional México Distrito Federal México

Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas Tuxtla Gutiérrez Chiapas México

Universidad de Granada and C A F P E Granada Spain

Universidad de Medellín Medellín Colombia

Universidad Industrial de Santander Bucaramanga Colombia

Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México México Distrito Federal México

Universidad Tecnológica Nacional Facultad Regional Buenos Aires Buenos Aires Argentina

Universidade de São Paulo Escola de Engenharia de Lorena Lorena São Paulo Brazil

Universidade Estadual de Campinas IFGW Campinas São Paulo Brazil

Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana Feira de Santana Brazil

Universidade Federal do ABC Santo André São Paulo Brazil

Universidade Federal do Paraná Setor Palotina Palotina Brazil

Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro Observatório do Valongo Rio de Janeiro Brazil

Universidade Federal Fluminense EEIMVR Volta Redonda Rio de Janeiro Brazil

Universität Hamburg 2 Institut für Theoretische Physik Hamburg Germany

Universität Siegen Fachbereich 7 Physik Experimentelle Teilchenphysik Siegen Germany

Université Grenoble Alpes CNRS Grenoble Institute of Engineering Université Grenoble Alpes LPSC IN2P3 38000 Grenoble France

Université Libre de Bruxelles Brussels Belgium

Université Paris Saclay CNRS IN2P3 IJCLab Orsay France

University of Adelaide Adelaide South Australia Australia

University of Chicago Enrico Fermi Institute Chicago Illinois USA

University Politehnica of Bucharest Bucharest Romania

Vrije Universiteit Brussels Brussels Belgium

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