Measurement of the cosmic ray hadron spectrum up to 30 TeV at mountain altitude: the primary proton spectrum
Abstract
The flux of cosmic ray hadrons at the atmospheric depth of 820 g/cm2 has been measured by means of the EAS-TOP hadron calorimeter (Campo Imperatore, National Gran Sasso Laboratories, 2005 m a.s.l.). The hadron spectrum is well described by a single power law : S(Eh) = (2.25 +- 0.21 +- 0.34(sys)) 10(-7)(Eh/1000)(-2.79 +- 0.05) m(-2) s(-1) sr(-1) GeV(-1) over the energy range 30 GeV-30 TeV. The procedure and the accuracy of the measurement are discussed. The primary proton spectrum is derived from the data by using the CORSIKA/QGSJET code to compute the local hadron flux as a function of the primary proton spectrum and to calculate and subtract the heavy nuclei contribution (basing on direct measurements). Over a wide energy range E0 = 0.5-50 TeV its best fit is given by a single power law : S(E0) = (9.8 +- 1.1 +- 1.6(sys)) 10(-5) (E0/1000)(-2.80 +- 0.06) m(-2) s(-1) sr(-1) GeV(-1). The validity of the CORSIKA/QGSJET code for such application has been checked using the EAS-TOP and KASCADE experimental data by reproducing the ratio of the measured hadron fluxes at the two experimental depths (820 and 1030 g/cm2 respectively) at better than 10% in the considered energy range.
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