A discrepancy between measured and calculated cosmic-ray spectra in the atmosphere

The flux of nucleons, pions, and muons in the energy range 1–1000 GeV and in atmospheric altitudes of 0–48 km has been calculated to a high degree of accuracy and without gross simplifications. Thus a discrepancy indicated already in 1964 byBrooke, Hayman, Kamiya andWolfendale has been firmly established. The discrepancy means, that it has proved impossible to derive the measured nucleon and muon spectra near sea-level from the measured primary nucleon spectrum unless the primary spectrum is reduced by a factor of about 2.5 or the high-energy collision models commonly used are changed. The latter would mean that the fraction of energy lost by the nucleon in a collision is passed over to the muon component to a minor extent than so far accepted, and this may be achieved in two ways: either the ratio of collision energy passed on to the electron-photon component to the energy passed on to the pion-muon component is increased in favour of the former, or about 10–20% of the collision energy are passed on to unspecified particles which do not contribute appreciably to the hard and weak components of cosmic rays. — The possibility is discussed that the missing fraction of 10–20% is spent in production of baryonantibaryon pairs.