Solution to the Centauro puzzle

Citations Over TimeTop 10% of 2003 papers

Abstract

An unusual Centauro phenomenon in which cosmic rays enter the atmosphere producing tens of charged hadrons, but virtually no neutral pions, has been a mystery for more than 30 years. Since the discovery of Centauro I in 1972 by the Brazil-Japan Collaboration operating x-ray emulsion chambers at 5200 m on Mt. Chacaltaya in the Bolivian Andes, a variety of models have been proposed (including new types of interaction or the creation of new types of matter). Here we show that the solution to a long-standing scientific puzzle lies with the details of the Chacaltaya detector. The new analysis of the original Centauro I event reveals that there is a difference in the angle between the upper block and lower block events, so the two are not products of the same interaction. That leaves only the lower chamber data connected to the Centauro I event. It is shown that, with the revised understanding of the event, new physics is no longer required for the explanation.

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