The East-West Asymmetry of the Cosmic Radiation in High Latitudes and the Excess of Positive Mesotrons

Abstract

The slight east-west asymmetry of the cosmic radiation in high latitudes, now confirmed by Seidl, is interpreted to be the result of the deflection by the earth's magnetic field of the mesotron component while the rays are losing energy by ionization in the atmosphere. Since this component contains about twenty percent more positive than negative rays these deflections result in an asymmetry. Orbits of rays, including those in the range of energy where rest mass cannot be neglected, have been investigated and the deflections determined. It is assumed that deflections without energy loss, namely, those of the primary rays described by the theory of Lemaître and Vallarta, result in a symmetrical distribution for the energy ranges concerned. The asymmetry is traced to the difference between the actual deflection and that of a ray which loses no energy. The "difference" deflection $\delta$ shifts the angular distribution so that rays which, in the absence of a field, would have produced an intensity proportional to ${cos}^2\zeta$ at zenith angle $\zeta$ actually produce this intensity at an angle $\zeta +\delta$. Asymmetries calculated in this way agree with the observed values, and give the correct variation of asymmetry with zenith angle and elevation. Although the data are meager, the theory seems to be in accord with the existing evidence regarding the effect of absorbing material upon the asymmetry.