The possibility of detecting individual cosmic rays

✍ Scribed by W.F.G. Swann

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1928
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 449 KB
• Volume: 206
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0016-0032
• DOI: 10.1016/s0016-0032(28)92289-9

✦ Synopsis

THE purpose of the present paper is to show that, in view of the enormous energy available for ionization in a single cosmic ray, and of the relatively small number of ions produced per second by the rays in a vessel of moderate size, the ionization produced should occur in spurts which may be observable under suitable conditions.

According to Mill&an and Cameron, the rays observed near the earth's surface have an absorption coefficient of about 0.1 per meter of water, and produce about 1.4 ions per C.C. per second in air at atmospheric pressure.' Using Dirac's formula, 2 the value of hv, the cosmic ray energy, corresponding to P = 0.1 per meter of water is