NUCLEAR INTERACTIONS OF HIGH-ENERGY COSMIC RAYS OBSERVED NEAR SEA LEVEL

Journal Article · Thu Mar 01 04:00:00 EST 1962 · Physical Review (U.S.) Superseded in part by Phys. Rev. A, Phys. Rev. B: Solid State, Phys. Rev. C, and Phys. Rev. D

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRev.125.1668· OSTI ID:4799407

Pak, W; Greisen, K

Nuclear interactions of magnetically analyzed cosmic rays above 8 Bev are observed near sea level at two zenith angles, 0 and 68 deg , in an effort to obtain information on the nuon nuclear interaction cross section for events of ~200 Mev threshold energy, and on the vertical intensity of sealevel protons having ~20 Bev median energy. The muons selected are comparable in energy to those at an underground depth of ~ 300 meters water equivalent (m.w.e.). The result agrees with data at 310 and 590 m.w.e. All three points, however, lie above the cross sections calculated with the Williams-Weizsacker method. In view of large statistical errors the departure cannot be taken too seriously, but it suggests an increase of photonuclear cross section with energy. The statistical error in the derived proton intensity is also large. The average elasticity of high-energy nuclear collisions consistent with the observed proton intensity is roughly 50%. The spectral point indicates a differential proton spectrum that can be represented by a power law with exponent gamma 1.9 plus or minus 0.3. The spectrum of primary particles that contribute to the sea-level proton flux in the 1 to 20 Bev energy range fits a power law with gamma approx equal 2.4. The fact that the sea-level spectrum is harder than the primary spectrum suggests that the elasticity is an increasing function of energy. (auth)

• Research Organization: Cornell Univ., Ithaca, N.Y.
• NSA Number: NSA-16-013852
• OSTI ID: 4799407
• Journal Information: Physical Review (U.S.) Superseded in part by Phys. Rev. A, Phys. Rev. B: Solid State, Phys. Rev. C, and Phys. Rev. D, Journal Name: Physical Review (U.S.) Superseded in part by Phys. Rev. A, Phys. Rev. B: Solid State, Phys. Rev. C, and Phys. Rev. D Vol. Vol: 125; ISSN PHRVA
• Country of Publication: Country unknown/Code not available
• Language: English

Related Subjects

COSMIC RADIATION
CROSS SECTIONS
DISTRIBUTION
ELASTICITY
ENERGY
ENERGY RANGE
ERRORS
FIELD THEORY
GEV RANGE
INTERACTIONS
LEVELS
MAGNETIC FIELDS
MEASURED VALUES
MUONS
PHOTONS
PHOTOPRODUCTION
PHYSICS
PROTONS
SEA
SEA LEVEL
SPECTROMETERS
WILLIAMS-WEIZSAECKER METHOD