Observation of New Properties of Secondary Cosmic Rays Lithium, Beryllium, and Boron by the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer on the International Space Station

(AMS Collaboration), Liqiu Wang

Research output: Journal article publicationJournal articleAcademic researchpeer-review

230 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We report on the observation of new properties of secondary cosmic rays Li, Be, and B measured in the rigidity (momentum per unit charge) range 1.9 GV to 3.3 TV with a total of 5.4×106 nuclei collected by AMS during the first five years of operation aboard the International Space Station. The Li and B fluxes have an identical rigidity dependence above 7 GV and all three fluxes have an identical rigidity dependence above 30 GV with the Li/Be flux ratio of 2.0±0.1. The three fluxes deviate from a single power law above 200 GV in an identical way. This behavior of secondary cosmic rays has also been observed in the AMS measurement of primary cosmic rays He, C, and O but the rigidity dependences of primary cosmic rays and of secondary cosmic rays are distinctly different. In particular, above 200 GV, the secondary cosmic rays harden more than the primary cosmic rays.

Original languageEnglish
Article number021101
JournalPhysical Review Letters
Volume120
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 11 Jan 2018
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Physics and Astronomy

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Observation of New Properties of Secondary Cosmic Rays Lithium, Beryllium, and Boron by the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer on the International Space Station'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this