Behavior of structure function of conserved hadrons in hadron-nucleus interactions at mean energies 100, 500 and 1600 GeV

The authors have considered some problems related to the investigation of parameters of an interaction event by means of ionization calorimeters in cosmic rays. Sources of distortion of the observed characteristics, due to the constructive peculiarities of the calorimeter and to the properties of the nuclear cascade process in dense matter, are discussed. The obtained experimental data confirm the fact that the inclusive cross section (the structure function) of the leading nucleons p/sub L/ for the reaction pFe..-->..p/sub L/+X is constant over a wide energy region from 60 up to 10 000 GeV.