Properties of Cosmic Helium Isotopes Measured by the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer
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© 2019 authors. Published by the American Physical Society. Precision measurements by the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) on the International Space Station of He3 and He4 fluxes are presented. The measurements are based on 100 million He4 nuclei in the rigidity range from 2.1 to 21 GV and 18 million He3 from 1.9 to 15 GV collected from May 2011 to November 2017. We observed that the He3 and He4 fluxes exhibit nearly identical variations with time. The relative magnitude of the variations decreases with increasing rigidity. The rigidity dependence of the He3/He4 flux ratio is measured for the first time. Below 4 GV, the He3/He4 flux ratio was found to have a significant long-term time dependence. Above 4 GV, the He3/He4 flux ratio was found to be time independent, and its rigidity dependence is well described by a single power law ∈RΔ with Δ=-0.294±0.004. Unexpectedly, this value is in agreement with the B/O and B/C spectral indices at high energies.
Date issued
2019-11Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics; Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Laboratory for Nuclear Science; Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Plasma Science and Fusion CenterJournal
Physical Review Letters
Publisher
American Physical Society (APS)