A study of the characteristics of high energy nuclear active particles in extensive air showers

Abstract

The characteristics of hadrons of energy > 300 Gev in extensive air showers of size 5.10(^4) - 1.6.10(^6) particles at sea level has been investigated using a neon flash tube chamber as a hadron detector operated in conjunction with part of the Durham air shower array. The lateral distribution of hadrons tends to flatten as the shower size increases. The energy spectrum in the range 500 - 1000 Gev can be represented as a power law with exponent l.0(^+)0.1 beyond this energy the spectrum gradually steepens. The energy and shower size dependence, of the quantity E(_n).r (reflecting the transverse momenta of hadrons, where E(_n) is the hadron energy and r, is the distance between the hadron aid shower core) has been determined. The results are in agreement with the hypothesis of an increasing transverse momentum of produced particles in ultra high energy collisions. A measurement of the energy spectrum of hadrons either accompanied or not has been performed. In the energy range 400 Gev up to about 8 Tev the measured differential energy spectrum shows a constant slope of 2.74(^+)0.16. A search for magnetic monopoles has been carried out. Eleven anomolous events that could be attributed to high Z -particles ( Z- 20) have been observed. To estimate the energy of hadrons interacting in a thick (15cms) lead or iron (l5cms) absorbers, the burst size was detected by scintillators placed under the lead and the iron. A calculation has been carried out to relate the burst size and the hadron energy.