On the positive temperature effect in the cosmic radiation and the π—μ decay

✍ Scribed by H. Trefall

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1957
• Weight: 441 KB
• Volume: 23
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0031-8914
• DOI: 10.1016/s0031-8914(57)90472-x

✦ Synopsis

The temperature effect due to competition between disintegration of n-mesons and absorption through nuclear interactions is discussed. It is shown that the magnitude of this effect as much depends on the probability for production of new x-mesons in meson-initiated interactions as it depends on the interaction mean free path. An attenuation length of the z~-meson component is defined to represent the loss of nmesons through nuclear interactions, and it is shown that this quantity and not the interaction mean free path itself determines the magnitude of the positive temperature effect at a given mean life of the zc-mesons. A simple but fairly accurate approximate formula for the temperature effect has been developed. A comparison with experimental results shows that the attenuation length of the z~-meson component is hardly less than twice the interaction mean free path.