Multi-channel Absorption of Photons at Energies above 1 TeV

Abstract

It is shown that the absorption of photons at energies > 1 TeV (much higher than the mass of the Higgs boson ~ 100 GeV) is a multi-channel one as opposed to the purely electron pair like absorption at lower energies. The observation on muons and gamma rays from Cygnus X-3 point source at these energies (1 TeV to 10 TeV) is quantitatively accounted for. The expected multi-channel cross-sections of photons in air as a function of energy is given both for Coulomb dissociation and nuclear absorption upto limiting energies of 10^9 GeV.