Electronic Component of Cosmic Rays in the Low Atmosphere. I. Theoretical

Abstract

The authors discuss the problem of the equilibrium conditions between meson and secondary electronic component. Following William's concept of electron track, some formulas are deduced for the number of electrons with $\mathrm{energy}>~\eta$ generated in coulombian collisions and in equilibrium with the meson component, in a substance having a critical energy ${\epsilon }_c$. Similarly a general formula is given for the number of disintegration electrons in equilibrium with the meson component in atmosphere. Such formulas present a remarkable generality because they include the fundamental parameters explicitly, and the meson spectrum appears in them in integral form; this makes them particularly suitable for comparison with experiments.