On the direct observation of cosmic-ray energy losses

During the decay of solar cosmic-ray events cosmic-rays with kinetic energies of about 1 MeV are convected outward with the solar wind. It is shown that, with currently available observations it should be possible to demonstrate directly the energy losses which are occurring. Observations from two spacecraft on the same heliocentric radial line are required. In this paper observations from Venera-4 and Imp-F have been used. A simple and direct demonstration would be provided by the observation of nearly mono-energetic pulses convected between the two spacecraft, but no such pulses were found to be present. A second method depends upon observing the ratio of the integral fluxes at the two spacecraft and comparing this with the value predicted by theory. The relevant theoretical analysis has been given. It is shown that in order to discriminate between energy-loss processes the spacecraft must be well separated. For spacecraft at Earth's orbit and the orbit of Venus the integral-flux ratio predicted with energy loss due to adiabatic deceleration is a factor of three higher than that predicted with no energy loss. Comparisons of integral-flux ratios for two events observed on spacecraft separated by approximately 0.1 AU gave inconclusive results. In view of the importance of energy-loss processes in the propagation of cosmic rays it is suggested that others with access to relevant data might continue this investigation.