Elemental composition of cosmic rays near the knee by multiparameter measurements of air showers

被引：70

作者：

Swordy, SP

Kieda, DB ^{[1
]}

机构：

[1] Univ Utah, Dept Phys, Salt Lake City, UT 84112 USA

[2] Univ Chicago, Enrico Fermi Inst, Chicago, IL 60637 USA

[3] Univ Chicago, Dept Phys, Chicago, IL 60637 USA

来源：

ASTROPARTICLE PHYSICS | 2000年 / 13卷 / 2-3期

基金：

美国国家科学基金会;

关键词：

D O I：

10.1016/S0927-6505(99)00117-6

中图分类号：

P1 [天文学];

学科分类号：

0704 ;

摘要：

The small change in the spectral slope of the overall intensity of cosmic rays near 1 PeV may be associated with the endpoint energy of supernova shock acceleration. A crucial test of this connection and other ideas of the origin of the spectral 'knee' is the reliable determination of the variation of elemental composition in this region. Recent measurements at the DICE/CASA/MIA air shower installation in Dugway, Utah, USA have provided several independent air shower parameters for each event. The derivation of elemental composition from a combination of Cherenkov size, depth of shower maximum in the atmosphere, muon size and electron size at ground level and the reliability of these results are discussed. There is no evidence from these data for a large change in the mean mass of cosmic rays across the 'knee'. These measurements show the cosmic rays are composed of similar to 70% protons and a particles near total energies of 10 PeV. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

引用

页码：137 / 150

页数：14

共 29 条

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