Emulsion chambers will be flown in the Astromag Facility to measure the cosmic ray composition (H through Fe) and spectra to 1015 eV total energy and to definitively study the characteristics of nucleus–nucleus interactions above 1012 eV/n. Two configurations of emulsion chambers will be flown in the SCIN/MAGIC experiment. One chamber has an emulsion target and a calorimeter similar to those recently flown on balloons for composition and spectra measurements. The other has an identical calorimeter and a low‐density target section optimized for performing rigidity measurements on charged particles produced in interactions. The transverse momenta of charged and neutral mesons, direct hadronic pairs from resonance decays and interference effects, and possible charge clustering in high density states of matter will be studied. The magnetic field allows more definitive tests of heavy nucleus interaction models at high energy, and enhances searches for evidence of nuclear matter phase change such as a quark‐gluon plasma or chiral symmetry. These interaction studies are important for energy measurements below and above 1015 eV using ionization calorimetry, including air shower experiments.

Topics
Measuring instruments, Calorimetry, Magnetic fields, Cosmic rays, Emulsions, Charged clusters, Mesons, Particle symmetry, Quantum chromodynamics, Educational assessment
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© 1990 American Institute of Physics.
1990
American Institute of Physics
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