Production of Auger Electrons by NegativeKMesons andπMesons

The mesonic Auger effect has been studied for $K^{-}$ mesons and ${\pi }^{-}$ mesons. It is expected that the frequency of production of Auger electrons of energy greater than 15 kev should be about 50% greater for $K$ mesons than for $\pi$ mesons due to the greater mass of the $K$ meson. 200 $\pi$-meson stars and 195 $K$-meson stars in nuclear emulsion have been examined for associated slow electrons of energy greater than 15 kev. For $\pi$ mesons it is found that 14% of the stars have one Auger electron and 4% have two. For $K$ mesons 25% have one, 6% have two, and 1% have three. Thus 18% of all $\pi$-meson stars and 32% of all $K$-meson stars have one or more associated Auger electrons. Assuming that 54% of all stars are in the heavy elements of the emulsion, it is found that 33% of $\pi$ mesons and 59% of $K$ mesons captured in silver and bromine have one or more associated Auger electrons. Hence the increase in production by $K$ mesons over that by $\pi$ mesons is about 75%.