High Altitude Laboratories Research Articles

Search for SQM in cosmic rays at high altitude laboratories

An experiment to search for intermediate mass magnetic monopoles (105-1012 GeV/c2) and for strangelets or nuclearites in the cosmic radiation is exposed at Chacaltaya Laboratory (5230 m a.s.l.) and at Koksil, Himalaya, (4275 m a.s.l.). With the large area of nuclear track detectors (440 m2 at Chacaltaya and 100 m2 at Koksil) and the long time exposure will reach a sensitivity to the flux of SQM about 10−15 cm−2 s−1 sr−1 sr. The results of the analysis, in terms of search for SQM, of large array of detectors at Chacaltaya and exposed for more than 3.5 y are here reported.

Italian high altitude laboratories: past and present.

Italy is a mountainous country with a total of 88 huts and bivouacs at altitudes higher than 3,000 m. Starting in the 19th century a great deal of research in high altitude pathophysiology has been carried out in Italy and many Italian physicians have been involved in mountain medicine. Most of the Italian research has been carried out at two locations: the scientific laboratories "Angelo Mosso" on Monte Rosa (Capanna Regina Margherita and Laboratorio Angelo Mosso), and the "Pyramid" in Nepal. The Capanna Regina Margherita, located on the top of Punta Gnifetti (Monte Rosa, 4,559 m), was inaugurated in 1893. With the support of Queen Margherita of Savoy, an Observatory for scientific studies was built beside this hut in 1894. In 1980 the hut was completely rebuilt by the Italian Alpine Club. The Istituto Angelo Mosso at Col d'Olen, at the base of Monte Rosa (at 2,900 m) was inaugurated in 1907. The high altitude laboratory named the "Pyramid" was built in 1990. Made of glass and aluminium, this pyramid-shaped structure is situated in Nepal at 5,050 m. The scientific laboratories "Angelo Mosso" on Monte Rosa (mainly the Capanna Regina Margherita) and the Pyramid form a nucleus for high altitude research: the former is especially devoted to research regarding acute mountain sickness and the response to subacute hypoxia, whereas the latter is a unique facility for research responses to chronic hypoxia, the effect of exposure to very high altitude, and the study of the resident population living in the Himalayas for at least 25,000 years.

A new heavy particle?

A great deal of work on the hadronic component of cosmic rays has been done by Russian groups working at the high altitude (3340 m) laboratories at Tien Shan and employing very large 'ionization calorimeters' of area 40 m2 and depth of the order of 10 interaction lengths. The Leeds work was stimulated by some as yet unexplained phenomena, observed by the Russian groups to occur in the energy range 1013–1015 eV, which we thought ought to be observable in the energy spectrum of hadrons present in the atmosphere.

Monte Carlo Simulation on Propagation of Cosmic-Rays in the Atmosphere

A simulation study is made on propagation and multiplication of the high energy cosmic-ray components in their passage through the atmosphere. The study is planned to simulate observation of high energy cosmic-ray phenomena by the emulsion chambers exposed at high altitude laboratories and to make clear how the observation of such kind will disclose unknown mechanism of the extremely high energy interactions-multiple production of mesons. In particular, the following two models of the multiple meson production are examined in the present simulation: 1) Two-fire-ball model,l> abbreviated as 2F; 2) H-quantum model,2> abbreviated as HQ. The outline of our simulation is as follows. A high energy primary cosmic-ray particle collides with an air nucleus of the upper atmosphere and causes the multiple meson production according to mechanism of the assumed models. The secondary nuclear-active particles, charged n-mesons and an outgoing nucleon, among the generated particles collide in their turn with air nuclei and they develop the so-called nuclear cascade processes while passing through the atmosphere. Gamma-rays, being the decay products of n°-mesons produced by the successive nuclear collisions, are the source of the atmospheric electromagnetic cascade showers. We make a record of particles with energies above a certain threshold energy both of the nuclear-active component and of the electro-magnetic component, which arrived at the observation level. The record consists of data of the arriving particles together with those on the primary particle. The present simulation calculation corresponds to observation of high energy cosmic-ray particles by the emulsion chamber exposed at the mountain altitudes. In particular, it provides us data of the artificial families: identity, energy and spatial distribution of member particles of the families. It is instructive to learn what kind of pattern the artificial families show at the observation plane under a certain assumption. This is indispensable for

High-Altitude Laboratories

Joint Commission Meeting in Denver.

The world's high altitude laboratories

A recent survey article on high altitude laboratories has elicited so much correspondence that it was thought worth-while to present today's roster of such stations in tabular form. In the table below and on the map on p 30 several stations now in operation are listed in order of ascending geomagnetic latitude. In addition four stations at present under study are mentioned, one or more of which may be in operation in the near future. Omitted from this list are such well-known observatories as Mt. Wilson, Mt. Palomar and others, since their elevation is not particularly high. Also omitted are such cities which may happen to lie at high elevations, as for example La Paz, Bolivia, at which no formally organized high altitude laboratories are known to this writer. Finally, we do not list any observatories in countries behind the Iron Curtain, but only those which will welcome scientists of all nations. The majority of the stations have electric power available usually via transmission lines from generating stations located elsewhere. All these are marked, under the heading of “Power Available”, as 25. The asterisk indicates that while existing lines often carry 25 KW, if the observer should have requirements for larger amounts of power, such as for a large magnet, arrangements should be made for the installation of larger transformers if needed. The listing under access will at once convey to the prospective user of such a station the reasonable limits of weight of equipment which can be transported. Thus, for example, to carry a six-ton instrument to Morococha would present no insuperable difficulties, but if it were desired to take it to Pic du Midi, it would have to be disassembled. Under the heading “Housing, Persons”, is given the normal number which can comfortably sleep at the place mentioned. It goes without saying that this number is quite flexible, and it is only desired as an approximate guide to the housing situation. At many places, for example at the Jungfraujoch, Morococha, Echo Lake, Huancayo, and Climax, good hotels are available nearby. Further, if the experiment required 24-hour personnel presence, observers can usually make their own arrangements to sleep near the apparatus on cots they can bring with them. Under the heading “Officer in Charge” are listed the persons who at this writing are well qualified to provide information about the use of each station. The names will change from time to time, and it is the institutional connections which will be more permanent. The author of the present article, who has been fortunate in visiting almost all of the stations listed, will be glad to provide additional information, should other questions arise. Such correspondence should be addressed to: Prof. Serge A. Korff, New York University, University Heights, New York 53, N.Y.

High altitude laboratories

Science has always been international, and where it has flourished it has been nurtured by the contributions of men from all nations. High altitude laboratories similarly are especially beneficial if they are organized on an international basis. High altitude laboratories can serve the scientific community in many ways. Properly set up, they can be helpful in reaching the ultimate objectives of science, the ascertaining of new facts and the better understanding of the way nature operates. We shall in this article discuss those high altitude laboratories which are in the free world, and to which visiting scientists are welcomed. Information about the laboratories in the totalitarian nations is not publicly available, and since access to them is impossible, it would serve no useful purpose to describe them.

High Altitude Laboratories

In a recent article on “High Altitude Laboratories” in Physics Today, November, 1950, page 17, the need for additional laboratory facilities in the equatorial zone was stressed. No sooner had the issue of Physics Today reached some members of the medical fraternity than the author began to receive letters pointing out an omission from the account of existing stations. Indeed four of these letters arrived one day in the same mail. Evidently such distinguished individuals as Dr. Warren Weaver are also keenly interested in this problem.

Extensive Cosmic-Ray Showers

The soft group present at sea level is almost entirely because of the effects of mesotrons, that is, because of their decay electrons and their collision electrons. These electrons should then give rise to local showers in the lower atmosphere, the intensity of which should increase very slowly with the altitude, in the same way as the mesotrons. However, the increase of the soft group with altitude is very rapid, so electrons of another origin add their effects to those of the decay and collision electrons from mesotrons. This chapter discusses the existence of the existence showers and describes their properties with counters and Wilson chambers partly at sea level, and partly in two high altitude laboratories—Jungfraujoch and Pic du Midi. If two or three counters are arranged in coincidence in free air, a small number of coincidences is observable because of air showers, and this number decreases quickly when the horizontal distance of the counters is increased.