抄録
A new type of detector called transition chamber was used to study high-energy nuclear-active particles (N-particles) above 1011 ev in extensive air showers (EAS) of size above 103. The differential energy spectrum of N-particles is shown to be represented by EN−2.0±0.1dEN up to 3.1013 ev irrespective of shower size. The lateral distribution of nuclear-active particles is obtained within 10 m from the axis. This distribution is tentatively explained by a phenomenological model assuming the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution for the transverse momentum of N-particles. Total number of N-particles of energy EN≥1011 ev, NN, in an extensive air shower is expressed as a function of size Ne by NN=(50±5)(Ne⁄105)1.1±0.1, for Ne ranging from 103 to more than 106. Then the total energy carried by all N-particles of EN≥1011 ev is estimated to be as much as that of the electron component in an EAS. On the basis of the observed general relationship between the electron component and N-particles for a wide range of sizes, a model of the development of EAS is suggested. The energy spectrum of N-particles is discussed in relation to that of high-energy γ-rays. In particular the existence of very high-energy N-particles implies that the average inelasticity in high energy interactions η=0.4∼0.5, if they assumed to be survivors of primary particles. Also the possibilities are discussed for the occurrence of N-particles with energies as much as 10% or more of primary particles.
