High energy cosmic ray physics with underground muons in MACRO .2. Primary spectra and composition Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • Multimuon data from the MACRO experiment at Gran Sasso have been analyzed using a new method, which allows one to estimate the primary cosmic ray fluxes. The estimated all-particle spectrum is higher and flatter than the one obtained from direct measurements but is consistent with EAS array measurements. The spectral indexes of the fitted energy spectrum are 2.56[Formula presented]0.05 for [Formula presented]500 TeV and 2.9[Formula presented]0.3 for [Formula presented]5000 TeV with a gradual change at intermediate energies. The average mass number shows little dependence on the primary energy below 1000 TeV, with a value of 10.1[Formula presented]2.5 at 100 TeV. At higher energies the best fit average mass shows a mild increase with energy, even though no definite conclusion can be reached taking into account errors. The fitted spectra cover a range from [Formula presented] 50 TeV up to several thousand TeV. 1997 The American Physical Society.

published proceedings

  • PHYSICAL REVIEW D

author list (cited authors)

  • Ambrosio, M., Antolini, R., Auriemma, G., Baker, R., Baldini, A., Barbarino, G. C., ... Webb, R.

citation count

  • 25

complete list of authors

  • Ambrosio, M||Antolini, R||Auriemma, G||Baker, R||Baldini, A||Barbarino, GC||Barish, BC||Battistoni, G||Bellotti, R||Bemporad, C||Bernardini, P||Bilokon, H||Bisi, V||Bloise, C||Bosio, T||Bower, C||Bussino, S||Cafagna, F||Calicchio, M||Campana, D||Carboni, M||Castellano, M||Cecchini, S||Cei, F||Chiarella, V||Corona, A||Coutu, S||DeCataldo, G||Dekhissi, H||DeMarzo, C||De Mitri, I||DeVincenzi, M||DiCredico, A||Erriquez, O||Fantini, R||Favuzzi, C||Forti, C||Fusco, P||Giacomelli, G||Giannini, G||Giglietto, N||Goretti, M||Grassi, M||Grillo, A||Guarino, F||Guarnaccia, P||Gustavino, C||Habig, A||Hanson, K||Hawthorne, A||Heinz, R||Hong, JT||Iarocci, E||Katsavounidis, E||Kearns, E||Kyriazopoulou, S||Lamanna, E||Lane, C||Levin, DS||Lipari, P||Longley, NP||Longo, MJ||Mancarella, G||Mandrioli, G||MargiottaNeri, A||Marini, A||Martello, D||MarzariChiesa, A||Mazziotta, MN||Michael, DG||Mikheyev, S||Miller, L||Monacelli, P||Montaruli, T||Monteno, M||Mufson, S||Musser, J||Nicolo, D||Nolty, R||Okada, C||Orth, C||Osteria, G||Palamara, O||Parlati, S||Patera, V||Patrizii, L||Pazzi, R||Peck, CW||Petrera, S||Pistilli, P||Popa, V||Raino, A||Reynoldson, J||Ricciardi, M||Ronga, F||Rubizzo, U||Sanzgiri, A||Sartogo, F||Satriano, C||Satta, L||Scapparone, E||Scholberg, K||Sciubba, A||SerraLugaresi, P||Severi, M||Sitta, R||Spinelli, P||Spinetti, M||Spurio, M||Steinberg, R||Stone, JL||Sulak, LR||Surdo, A||Tarle, G||Togo, V||Valente, V||Walter, CW||Webb, R

publication date

  • August 1997