Studies of energetic muons in cosmic ray showers

Abstract

A magnet spectrograph situated at the British Universities joint air shower array at Haverah Park, near Harrogate, has been used for studies of various aspects of the muon component of extensive air showers (EAS).An introduction to EAS and the relevance of muon studies is given, and two momentum spectrographs are described, the second being an improvement over the first, yielding higher precision and momentum resolution. A detailed survey of track-fitting methods applicable to neon flash tube data from muon spectrographs is made, and an accurate method is described. The results of track fitting data from both instruments are presented and discussed. Theoretical model calculations on the muon component are described, and have been used to predict possible areas for further experiments. Comparisons are made between the prediction of model calculations and experimental data from the spectrograph in an attempt to determine several parameters governing the development of EAS. Two methods of obtaining the mean production height of muons in EAS are described, and the results interpreted in terms of the development of EAS. Further experiments which may be relevant to measurements of the primary particle mass are described.