ENEl~GY SPECTRUM OF ELECTRON PAIRS IN A HIGH

ENERGY PHOTON-ELECTRON CASCADE

J. PEI~I~EOlr V. PET~21LKA, J. SEDLAK and J. V~XxA
Institute of Physics, Czechosl. Acad. Sci. and Faculty of Technical and Nuclear Physics,
Charles University, Prague

The energy spectrum of electron pairs generated in a high energy photon-electron

cascade up to a depth of 1.5 c.u. was measured and the possible influence of the medium
on the shape of the spectrum according to L a n d a u - P o m e r anSuk-Ter M i k a e l y a n and
Migdal was investigated. Two procedures were used for the analysis; no significant de-
viation from the Bethe-I-Ieitler spectrum could be observed.Different ways of estimating
the primary energy were applied; the resulting value, 2 • 10~2eV, was accepted as the
primary energy.
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HaqecTBe nepB}IHliOH auepruu 5~iao np~ggTO aHa~eH~re 2 . i0' eV.

INTRODUCTION
Several papers [1--4] have recently appeared in which the energy spectra
of electron-photon cascades with a primary energy of the order of 10~ eV
were compared with the theories of Bethe-Heitler [5] and of Landau-
PomeranSuk [6], Ter-Mikaelyan [7], Migdal [8]. While the Polish group
uses the first generation of Bremsstrahlung-photons for comparison, the
Soviet g r o u p applies the Monte Carlo calculations for t h e d e v e l o p m e n t of t h e
whole cascade.
I n the present p a p e r b o t h procedures are used a n d m u t u a l l y c o m p a r e d a n d
different ways of estimating the p r i m a r y e n e r g y are considered for a n a l y z i n g
the cascade h a v i n g an e n e r g y of a b o u t 2 x 1012 eV which was observed in t h e
I - s t a c k from the 1955 P c - v a l l e y expedition. The situation of the cascade in the
s t a c k of eamlsion ensures t h a t the cascade is initiated b y one p h o t o n only.
I t s projection length in one emulsion is a b o u t 6"5 ram. The complete geo-
metrical reconstruction, including the d e t e r m i n a t i o n of the energies of all
pairs up to 1"5 c.u. a n d e n e r g y spectra m e a s u r e m e n t s in 2"8 c. u3), were carried
out at Prague. All m e a s u r e m e n t s in the 4th a n d 5th c.u. were performed at
B u d a p e s t [18].

BREMSSTRAHLUNG-SPECTRUM OF PRIMARY ELECTRONS

All data concerning the development of the cascade up to 1'5 c.u. are
summarized in Table I. Pairs Nos. 2 and 3, beginning at 5.8 mm from the origin
of the cascade, make further identification of the tracks of primary electrons
impossible and the position of the X-axis was therefore determined in
successive cuts from the centres of gravity of six tracks belonging to pairs
1) The authors wish to thank Dr. Lanius for kindly lending them the necessary plate
from the Berlin part of the I-stack.

342 Hex. ~ a . ::,K.B 10 (19a0)

 Energy Spectrum o~ Electron Pairs in a High .Energy Photon-electron Cascade

Table I.

F [GeV]
NO.pairOf X o [to] X G [mm]" Y [~] Z [[z] E L [GeV]. E 8 [GeV] accepted Note
value

1 0 0 0 t1500 1500
2 0"2 5"8 core core t I60 160
3 0:2 5"8 core core ' 500 5OO
4 0"38 12-2 core core 2.5 2.5
5 0"51 16"4 core core 30 3O
6 0-57 18.4 core core 1.t6 1.16
7 0"60 19.3 core core 0.32 0.32
8 0'64 20"3 core core 23 23
9 0'69 21-8 core cor~ 17 17
10 0"76 25'3 230 120 0.180 0,18
11 0'86 28.1 --100 -- 90 0.030 0.03
12 O.89 28.0 core cor(~ 1"30 1.30
13 0"92 29"0 -- 18 -- 2 0.21 0-21 Trident
14 0-92 29"0 2 5 7.1 7-1
15 0'92 29-0 0, 1 0.6 0-6
16 0"93 30-2 -- 160 300 0.013 0,013
17 0-95 30"8 -- 2 9 5,1 3-1 Trident
18 0'98 31-5 core core 0.16 0~14 0-14
19 0"98 31-5 core core 4.0 5,8 5-8
20 1-06 34.1 core core 38-0 38-0
21 1-1I 36-2 -- 6 1.90 1-9 Triden~
22 1-22 39,5 -- 1-5 2 2-0 Trident
23 1-22 39"6 5 --15 0"2I 0-21
24 t-23 39"8 -- t0 --11 0:11 0-11 Trident
25 1'25 41-45 130 0.064 0-064 Trident
26 1"26 40"6 -- 8 -- 2 3 3-3 3-3
27 1-30 42"0 -- 2 0.98 0.98
28 1-32 42-3' -- 8 0.3 0-42 0-42
29 1"32 42"3 5 7 0.22 1.20 1.20 Trider~t
3O 1"41 45"9 -- 3 18 2,2 4.55 4.55
31 1'41 46.0 -- 8 2 14-9 14.9
32 1'45 47'2 3 8 5 2.2 2.2
33 1-40 45-6 -- 4 20 5.9 5-9
34 1"47 47"7 -- 9 2 2-2 2.2 Trident

Nos. 1, 2 and 3 building the core of the cascade. The note "core" in the 4-th
and 5-th column means that the origin of the pair lies among the mutually
unresotvable core tracks. In the second column the X-distance is expressed
in cascade units in the emulsion, taking into account the stopping power of the
paper in between the emulsion layers. The energy E of pairs was determined
using the method of L o h r m a n n [9] (column EL) as well as from scattering
measurements (column E,). Whenever possible, the data from scattering
measurements were taken as the accepted values of E. The large errors in the
values of the energy estimated according to L o h r m a n n mostly concern the
values in the region above 109 eV and cannot therefore affect our argumenta-
tion about the shape of the spectrum. A remarkable number of apparent
tridents rather distant from the core was observed (last column).
The values of energies of individual pairs from Table I are represented in the
histogram of the integral energy spectrum in Fig. 1. The full curve B - - H
represents the energy spectrum of the B e t h e - H e i t l e r theory, and the dashed
curve M corresponds to M i g d a l . Curves B - - H and M were taken from the

Czech. J. Phys. B 10 (1960) 343

 J. Pernegr, V; Petr~ill~a, J. SedldIc, J. Vrdnct

paper of V a r f o l o m e e v and S v e t l o l o b o v [4] for t = 1-5 e.u. and for two

primary electrons with an energy of l01= eV each. The limits of error are in
both cases drawn according to Fig. 8 of reL [4]. The fact that pairs Nos. 2 and 3,
having rather high energy, were created at a short distance h-ore the origin
of the cascade causes the shift
of the experimental points to-
wards the upper limits of error
5O
of curves B - H and M. The
N
whole picture becomes much
40
B-H t=l, Se.u
worse if we draw the histogram
and the theoretical curves of
30 the spectrum in the first cas~
cade unit as Fig. 2, where any
20 comparison of experimental
J.
data with either the shape of
tO the curves or w i t h the total
number of pairs seems impos-
sible.
10~ t01 toe 109 tO~~ 101~E[eV] 10~'~ The relative difference be-
tween the M i g d a l and B e t h e -
:Fig. l. Integral energy spectrum of all electron pairs
up to a depth of 1-5 c.u. H e i t l e r curves being smaller
for pairs of all generations (pro-
cedure Gurew~i 5 et al. [2]) than
for the Bremsstrahlung-spectra of the primary electron only, w e tried in Fig. 3
~o compare the theories with the experimental points of pairs of the first
generation [I], [3]. The data in Fig. 3 concern pairs the origins of which lie
at distances from the axis not exceeding 1"2 F. This w a y of selection, however,

tO BMH.. ~=lOc...

Or06 tO~ tOa lOg t01~ 1011E [eV] t0~2

Fig. 2. Integra,1 energy spectrum of all electron pairs up ~o a depth of 1.0 e.u.

does not avoid the inclusion of pairs of further generations; a straightforward

application of the theoretical curves of Bremsstrahlung spectra was not there-
fore possible and we restricted ourselves to a comparison of the shape of the
curves with the shape of the histogram. For this reason we p u t the surface
of the experimental histogram equal to the surface bordered either b y the
theoretical curve of M i g d a l (curves M 1 and B H 1) or b y the curve of B e t h e ~
t I e i t l e r (curves M 2 and B H 2). The curves B H and M in Fig. 3 are drawn
from the differential energy spectra of Bremsstrahlung photons (see Fig. 1
of [4]) with respect to the energy dependence of the cross-section for pair

344 ~ e x . q~i~3. ~-~, B I0 (1960)

 .Energy Spectrum of Electron Pairs in a High Energy Photon-electron Cascade

production. I n spite of the obvious lack of pairs with energies below l0 s eV

it seems difficult to decide between the applicability of the curves M 1 a n d
B H 2. Fig. 3 illustrates the situation at a depth t ~ 1.5 c.u.; the whole picture.
would not change for t ~ 1.0 e.u. because only the pair No. 20 (Table I}

25
N
. BH7 ' ' ' 1
20

t = 1,5cu~
15

o
106 107 10~ 109 10~~ I071 E levi 10112

Fig. 3. I n t e g r a l energy s p e c t r u m of electron pairs p r o d u c e d b y t h e first g e n e r a t i o n o f

B r e m s s t r a h l u n g photons up to a d e p t h of 1.5 e.u. T h e curves B - - H 2 and M 1 h a v e t h e
same area as t h e m e a s u r e d histogram.

would be missing. The lack of particles in the low energy region might be
influenced by larger fluctuation arising as a consequence of the longer mean
free path for pair production.
We shall continue to discuss possible check- I 0 0 - -
ing of the shape of the energy spectrum in
the last section. N

30
ESTIMATION
OF THE PRIMARY ENERGY

The diminishing of the ionization at the

beginning of the primary pair was used for
a rough estimation of the primary energy.
1o
%.
The gap distribution [10] on three sections
of the tracks of the primary pair is shown 3
in Fig. 4. I n the first interval X ---- (0--250~)
the ionization g* = g/go = 1.12 • 0.15, in
the interval X ~ (0--500 V) the value g * =
= 1.51 =k 0.13, in the interval X ~ (500 to I
5500 ~) the value g * = 1.95 • 0.04. The cor- o f 2 3 4 '3 6 ~ F
responding values of the primary energy ac- Fig. 4. Gap l e n g t h (l) d i s t r i b u t i o n
cording to the ~ u d a k o v formula [11] t u r n in g i v e n i n t e r v a l s of t h e tracks of
out to be (2"2 =k 0~:~) • 1012eV and (0"7=k the first pair (points and lines b, e, d)
and on c o m p a r a t i v e tracks of elec-
:~: ~ • I 0 z~ eV in the first and second trons in t h e p l a t e a u of i o n i z a t i o n
intervals respectively. Because of the un- (points a n d line a).

Czech. J. Phys. B 10 (1960) 345

 J . _Pernegr, V. Petr2ilTca, J . Sedldlc, J . V r d n a

;known p a r t i t i o n of e n e r g y between b o t h electrons these values have to be

considered as a lower limit.
I t should be n o t e d t h a t the u n d e r e s t i m a t i o n of the p r i m a r y e n e r g y b y this
procedure in the case of u n e q u a l energies of b o t h electrons might b y caused
:not only b y the i n e q u a l i t y of t h e i r emission angles b u t also b y t h e i r longitudinal

300 ...... I ' I .... ''t ' l ' ' '''

IV(e)
= ,
100

30

1f3.10
|~.?, .... LlI I I ...... I I I .....
lOa 3"108 109 3"109 E [eV] tow

:Fig. 5. I n t e g r a l energy spectrum of aH electrons inside a circle of r~dius 200 Fm in the cu~
2-8 c.u.

d i s p l a c e m e n t as a consequence of different velocities, b o t h effects being of

t h e same order of m a g n i t u d e [13].
The e n e r g y s p e c t r u m (Fig. 5) and lateral distribution (Fig. 6) at a distance
o f 2"8 c. u. were used for more accurate d e t e r m i n a t i o n of the p r i m a r y energy;
t h e d a t a from t ~ 1"5 e.u. have not been used because of large fluctuation.
The energies of individual electrons p r e s e n t e d in the histograms of Fig. 5
were calculated front the scattering m e a s u r e m e n t s on tracks lying inside
a cylinder of radius a b o u t 200 F coaxial with the cascade. The corrections
for spurious scattering 0.18 F on cell
300 t ' ' '" ''1 ~ .....
length 500 F were t a k e n into account;
the energies above about 1 GeV
remained, however, underestimated.
N (e) t=2,Scu, ~ Q
The great m a j o r i t y of electrons out-
100 o.O.~ "~
side the m e n t i o n e d cylinder are ex-
p e c t e d to have energies lower t h a n

30
f
j o
300 MeV. The theoretical curve ta-
ken from the tables of B u t c h e r et
al. [13] was therefore fitted to the his-
o
t o g r a m in the interval from 300 MeV
to 1 GeV. The values of the p r i m a r y
e n e r g y E 0 resulting in this w a y f r o m
10 the integral e n e r g y s p e c t r u m t u r n s
3.104 105 3.105. 106
Lo out to be 2"5 • 1012eV.
W h e n applying the lateral distri-
Fig. 6. LaterM distribution of all electrons b u t i o n for the establishment of the
in the cut 2.8 c.u.; the number of tracks N
inside the circle with radius R is plotted p r i m a r y e n e r g y we corrected the va-
as a function of the variable Z o = E o R [16]. lues of the radius R, taking into

346 ~ex. ~ 3 . ~ . B 10 (1960)

 Energy Spectrum o] Electron Pairs in a High Energy Photon-electron Cascade

account the influence of air-gaps between the emulsion layers on the lateral
dilation of the target area. The N i s h i m u r a and K a m a t a [14, 15] distribution
:function normalized b y the factor 1"4 according to P i n k a u [16] was adjusted
to the experimental points of Fig. 6, and the value E 0 = 1"9 • 1012eV was
obtained. A direct application of the N i s h i m u r a and K a m a t a curves gives
t h e value E o ~ - 3 . 1 • 1012eV.

DISCUSSION
In discussing our results concerning the energy spectrum of the investigated
cascade we should like to compare the procedure of G u r e v i 6 et al. [2] with
t h a t of M i ~ s o w i c z et al. [1, 3]:
While the consideration of all pairs in a given depth of the cascade according
t o G u r e v i 6 et M. makes it possible to compare the experimental data with
the well-defined curves calculated with respect to all physical processes b y the
Monte Carlo method, the relative difference between curves corresponding
t o the M i g d a l and B e t h e r - H e i t l e r spectra remains relatively small even
a t high primary energies. In a single case of a cascade (Figs. 1 and 2) both
curves he in broad limits of error.
Using the first generation pairs, on the other hand, we get rid of the Brems-
strahlung of secondary electrons which, having lower energies, are expected
t o show a much smaller or undetectable M i g d a l effect. The relative difference
between the corresponding M i g d a l and B e t h e - H e i t l e r curves for first
generation pairs is therefore much higher than with the first procedure.
Difficulties arise, however, with the experimental selection of the first genera-
tion pairs and with the drawing of correct theoretical curves (Fig. 3).
Both procedures -- the Soviet as well as that of the Polish group -- seem,
therefore, to be complementary in their advantages and disadvantages. We
should like to point out that apart from the fluctuations in the total number
of pairs as well as in the number of pairs in a given energy interval, which are
discussed b y F a y [17] and taken into account in paper [4], unequipartition
of energy between both electrons of the primary pair is a further cause of
difficulties.
The proof of a lack of pairs in the low energy"region also seems to be difficult
because of the fact that the mean free path for pair production of low energy
photons grows beyond a length of 1 c.u. and we cannot investigate the effect
much beyond this depth.
Because of the practical impossibility of determining the partition of energies
between the two electrons of the primary pair equipartition has to be assumed
in the investigation of the energy spectrum and an accurate estimation of the
primary energy seems therefore unnecessary. Our determination of the primary
energy from the lateral distribution and from the energy spectrum at 2.8 c.u.
(see sec. 3) has been carried out on the basis of the B e t h e - H e i t l e r theory.
The assumption of the M i g d a l spectrum would lead to values of the primary
energy higher b y a factor of about 1"5 (see Fig. 8, of [4]). Because the relative
difference between the B e t h e - H e i t l e r and M i g d a l spectra decreases with
increasing depth in the cascade and because the investigation of the first
generation pairs loses its sense for depths greater than 1 c.u., we feel that
when investigating further cascades it is sufficient to work up to a distance
of about 1 c.u. We are afraid that the estimate of 5--7 cascades [4] necessary
for a significant check of the shape of the Bremsstrahlung spectrum is un-

Czech. 5. Phys. B 10 (1960) 347

 J. Pe~'negr, V. PetrSilka, J. SedldTc, J. Vrdna: Energy Spectrum of Electron Pairs...

d e r e s t i m a t e d . O u r results m i g h t be c o n s i d e r e d t h e r e f o r e as ~ c o n t r i b u t i o n tc~
m u c h l a r g e r s t a t i s t i c s of s i m i l a r e v e n t s a n d n o definitive conclusions c a n b e
d r a w n u n t i l s e v e r a l l a b o r a t o r i e s h a v e collected a sufficient n u m b e r of cascades..
Received 28. 7. 1959.

17~efere7%~8
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348 ~ex. 41%/43. ~K. B 10 (1960)