Analysis of some nuclear interactions of energies (10¹²÷10¹⁴)ev/nucleon

Abstract

Five nuclear interactions produced by nuclei with values of charge Z=1, 2, 6, 7 and 14 and with energies between 10¹² and 10¹⁴ eV/nucleon are described. The angular distributions and the momentum distributions of the secondary particles produced in these jets have been studied. Assuming transverse momentum to be constant, the momentum spectrum in the C.M. system in the case of each of the three jets with energies between (10¹³÷10¹⁴) eV/nucleon is found to be of the formP -2dP. Twenty nuclear interactions produced by secondary particles arising in two of the jets which involve energies of about 1014 eV/nucleon have also been analyzed. The ratio of the number of secondary interactions produced by neutral to that produced by charged particles is found to be 0.23±0.15. The energies of the particles responsible for 16 of the secondary interactions have been determined. The transverse momentum distribution of the secondary particles, produced in nucleon-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus collisions at ~10¹⁴ eV/nucleon and emitted at small angles (i.e. belonging to the inner cone), is found to be consistent, in the cases studied here, with that observed in nucleon-nucleon collisions at this energy. The observations indicate that nucleon-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus collisions at energies of about (10¹³÷10¹⁴) eV/nucleon are, in general, similar to nucleon-nucleon collisions.