The authors have observed tracks which they believe to be due to mesons in photographic plates placed near a target bombarded by 380 Mev alpha particles. For a 10-minute exposure in the cyclotron, about 50 meson tracks are found along the 3-inch edge of a photographic plate. The mass has been determined by measuring the bending in the magnetic field and the range in emulsion. From the first 50 meson tracks measured they find a mass of 313 {+-} 16 electron masses. It is highly probable that these mesons are the heavy mesons described by Lattes, Occhialini, and Powell.

The theory of high energy nuclear stars depends on a theory of nuclear transparency and on a theory of nuclear evaporation. The transparency can be computed on the basis of a model proposed by R. Serber as soon as the interactions between the nucleons and the incident particle are known. The evaporation can be computed on the basis of the statistical model of the nucleus as soon as the nuclear entropy and binding energies of the evaporated particles are known. With approximate values for the above interactions, entropies, and binding energies, a probability distribution has been computed for the number of prongs per star. The results are in qualitative agreement with the observations on photographic emulsions described in Part 1.

The linear accelerator is again in operation after a shutdown fore repairs and minor changes. Radiofrequency checks of the instrument were made while the Van de Graaff was open. The vacuum of the system is now very good, the base pressure being 1.7 x 10{sup -6} mm Hg with a rate of rise of 800 s/{micro}s. Some preliminary results have been obtained on the activation of carbon with protons. The experiments were done using 10 mil, 50 mg/cm{sup 2} polystyrene discs. The activation curve obtained is shown. The break shown in the curve was found on two separate runs and it yet unexplained. In another experiment a proton induced activity in nickel was found. This had a 3.3 second half-life. Positive mesons have been detected on plates exposed in the 184-inch cyclotron with an arrangement shown schematically. The beam ws allowed to strike a 1/16 inch carbon target, and the mesons, which are bent around by the magnetic field, were detected with photographic plaes placed beneath the circulating beam. A series of experiments were done in which the plates were placed at distances varying from 1-1/2 to 3/4 inch from the beam between 1/4 inch plates of copper. The plates …

This is a monthly progress report on the following programs: (1) 184-inch Cyclotron; (2) 60-inch Cyclotron; (3) Synchrotron; (4) Linear Accelerator; (5) Experimental Physics; (6) Theoretical Physics; (7) Isotope Research; (8) Chemistry; (9) Medical Physics; and (10) Health Physics and Chemistry.