Skip to main content
OSTI.GOVU.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information
 

Structure and Composition of Air Shower Cores

Journal Article · · Physical Review
 [1];  [1]
  1. Syracuse Univ., NY (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations
Extensive air showers were observed with an arrangement in which details of their structure and composition could be studied with the help of a large cloud chamber and a 102-counter hodoscope, while extension trays permitted a classification of the showers in three groups according to their initial energy, and a selection favoring events with cores striking near the central cloud chamber-hodoscope set. The electron density distribution is found to be flatter than the Molière structure function, and despite the different shower ages in the three energy groups, to be nearly the same for all the showers recorded. A structure function φ⁡(r)∝r-0.76 to r-0.85 in the immediate neighborhood of the core fits the data best. An attempt to correlate the very dense local cascades started by high-energy electrons or photons with the expected multiple cores representing the high multiplicity of the nuclear interaction initiating the shower failed; the structure of the groups of local cascades observed does not appear to vary with the shower energy. The penetrating component contains N particles interacting in the lead plates of the chamber with a mean free path of approximately 165 g/cm2, and consisting of neutrons (41±8 percent) and charged particles. The total abundance of penetrating particles near the core does not differ appreciably from that found by various authors in experiments not as strongly biased in favor of the detection of shower cores. The abundance ratios of N particles to μ mesons, and of penetrating particles to electrons, show only slight variations with the shower age and demonstrate that the nucleonic cascade reaches its maximum somewhat later than the electron cascade.
Research Organization:
Syracuse Univ., NY (United States). Institute of Industrial Research
Sponsoring Organization:
US Atomic Energy Commission (AEC)
NSA Number:
NSA-07-005088
OSTI ID:
4382626
Report Number(s):
NYO--3403
Journal Information:
Physical Review, Journal Name: Physical Review Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 94; ISSN 0031-899X
Publisher:
American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (17)

�ber die Entstehung von Mesonen in Vielfachprozessen journal July 1949
Penetrating Particles in Air Showers journal November 1950
The Density of the Penetrating Particles in Extensive Cosmic-Ray Air Showers journal October 1951
Average Numbers for the Development of the Nucleon Component of the Cosmic Radiation in Air journal August 1951
The Structure of Extensive Showers journal April 1952
The Structure of the Large Cosmic-Ray Air Showers journal December 1948
Theoretical Analysis of Ionization Chamber Data on Large Air Showers journal May 1949
A Hodoscope Study of Penetrating Cosmic-Ray Showers. II. Extensive Showers journal June 1950
N-Component in Extensive Air Showers journal November 1950
On the Density Spectrum and Structure of Extensive Air Showers journal February 1951
Angular Distribution of the Pions Produced in High Energy Nuclear Collisions journal March 1951
Air-Shower Cores journal February 1952
The Ratio of Soft and Hard Particles in Air Showers journal July 1952
High Energy Nuclear Interactions in Lead journal August 1952
The Spread of the Soft Component of the Cosmic Radiation journal October 1952
Two-Electron Self-Consistent Field journal June 1953
High Energy Nuclear Events journal July 1950

Figures / Tables (9)

Fig. 1(p. 38)figure Fig. 1
Fig. 2(p. 39)figure Fig. 2
Fig. 3(p. 40)figure Fig. 3
Fig. 4(p. 41)figure Fig. 4
Fig. 5(p. 44)figure Fig. 5
Fig. 6(p. 47)figure Fig. 6
Fig. 7(p. 48)figure Fig. 7
Fig. 8(p. 49)figure Fig. 8
Fig. 9(p. 50)figure Fig. 9

Similar Records

Development of Air Showers in the Atmosphere
Journal Article · Fri May 14 20:00:00 EDT 1954 · Physical Review · OSTI ID:4382625
Air shower observation between 5200m and 3260m altitude
Journal Article · Sun Aug 31 20:00:00 EDT 1958 · Nuovo Cimento · OSTI ID:4317035
The lateral distribution of penetrating particles in cosmic ray extensive air showers. Technical Report No. 70
Technical Report · Mon Aug 31 00:00:00 EDT 1959 · OSTI ID:4229368

Related Subjects

ABSORPTION
CLOUD CHAMBERS
COINCIDENCE METHODS
COSMIC RADIATION
COUNTERS
CROSS SECTIONS
DENSITY
ELECTRONS
ENERGY
ENERGY RANGE
EXTENSIVE AIR SHOWERS
INTERACTIONS
LATTICES
LEAD
MUONS
NEUTRONS
NUCLEONS
PARTICLE TRACKS
PHOTONS
Physics
SCATTERING