Light Nuclei and Isotope Abundances in Cosmic Rays. Results from AMS-01

TL;DR

This paper reports on AMS-01's measurements of light cosmic-ray nuclei abundances, providing data crucial for understanding cosmic-ray transport and interactions in the Galaxy.

Contribution

First measurement of light nuclei isotopic and elemental abundances in cosmic rays using AMS-01 data from a 10-day spaceflight.

Findings

Measured relative abundances of Li, Be, B, and C in cosmic rays.

Provided data to constrain astrophysical models of cosmic-ray propagation.

Analyzed nearly 200,000 light nuclei observations.

Abstract

Observations of the chemical and isotopic composition of light cosmic-ray nuclei can be used to constrain the astrophysical models of cosmic-ray transport and interactions in the Galaxy. Nearly 200,000 light nuclei (Z>2) have been observed by AMS-01 during the 10-day flight STS-91 in June 1998. Using these data, we have measured the relative abundance of light nuclei Li, Be, B and C in the kinetic energy range 0.35 - 45 GeV/nucleon.