Inelasticity of hadron-lead collisions, estimated by thick lead emulsion chambers at the Pamirs

Abstract

The inelasticity distribution of hadron-lead collisions in the energy region exceeding 1014 eV is estimated by 74 events of hadron interactions, observed by thick lead chambers at the Pamirs. The distribution is approximated as g(K)dK = 3.0 K2.0 dK (with 〈K〉 = 0.75) as a minimum estimate. The distribution is consistent with that by the simulation made under the assumptions of UA5 algorithm for hadron collisions and of geometrical model for intra-nuclear cascade. It is inferred that the average value of the inelasticity of hadron-nucleon collision is smaller than 0.5 in the energy region exceeding 1014 eV.