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The three types of cosmic-ray fluctuations and their significance

Millikan, Robert A. and Anderson, Carl D. and Neher, H. Victor (1934) The three types of cosmic-ray fluctuations and their significance. Physical Review, 45 (3). pp. 141-143. ISSN 0031-899X. doi:10.1103/PhysRev.45.141. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:MILpr34

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Abstract

A theory of cosmic-ray bursts is advanced with which the energy released in them is assumed to come not from the cosmic-rays themselves but from the battery which charges the electroscope. These bursts then represent, according to this theory, instrumental accidents which must be eliminated before the remaining fluctuations can be interpreted. The discovery that the remainder of the ionization observed in a cosmic-ray electroscope is due wholly to positrons and negatrons shooting through the chamber makes it possible to compute the fluctuations to be expected from a random distribution of these electron shots. The observed fluctuations, after the elimination of bursts, are found to be somewhat larger than the fluctuations thus computed. From the amount of this excess the percentage of cosmic-ray "showers" (two or more associated tracks) can be computed and is found by Evans and Neher to be in general agreement with the number directly observed in cloud-chamber experiments.


Item Type:Article
Related URLs:
URLURL TypeDescription
https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRev.45.141DOIUNSPECIFIED
Additional Information:©1934 The American Physical Society. Received 19 December 1933. All of the data which have made these studies possible has been obtained through the aid of funds provided by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, administered through the Carnegie Institution of Washington.
Issue or Number:3
DOI:10.1103/PhysRev.45.141
Record Number:CaltechAUTHORS:MILpr34
Persistent URL:https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:MILpr34
Usage Policy:No commercial reproduction, distribution, display or performance rights in this work are provided.
ID Code:6619
Collection:CaltechAUTHORS
Deposited By: Tony Diaz
Deposited On:15 Dec 2006
Last Modified:08 Nov 2021 20:35

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