Positive Mesons Produced by the 184-Inch Berkeley Cyclotron

Abstract

Positive mesons produced by 380-Mev alpha-particles in the 184-inch Berkeley cyclotron have been detected by means of photographic plates. The experimental arrangement is similar to that used for detecting negative mesons except that the plates are placed in a position to receive positive instead of negative particles from the target. Heavy positive mesons are observed to decay into secondary mesons in the manner described by Lattes, Occhialini, and Powell. Relative numbers of positive and negative mesons coming from a target are found by placing plates symmetrically on opposite sides of the target. Preliminary results indicate that for a $\frac{1}{16}$-inch carbon target there are about one-fourth as many heavy positive mesons as heavy negative ones for meson energies of 2-3 Mev in the laboratory system.