On the radiation emitted by a fast charged particle in the magnetic field

Abstract

Pomeranchuk has shown that electrons with energies ⪢ 10 17 eV passing through the earth’s magnetic field lose most of their energies. It is shown in this paper that the energy lost is transformed into some 600 photons of very high energy. These photons are distributed along a very narrow band of several decimetres or even only several centimetres length. The magnetic field of the earth can influence appreciably neither the energy spectrum nor the spread of extensive showers. Its main effect consists in shifting the shower maximum to a higher altitude. Something like the cascade process might be developed by a very fast electron before it reaches the top of the atmosphere.