High energy deuterons in cosmic rays registered by the SOKOL satellite experiment

Abstract We present the first measurement of the deuterium to proton ratio in cosmic rays, above 500 GeV/nucleon. The data were obtained as part of the SOKOL satellite experiment. The cascade curves generated by single charged particles in the calorimeter were analysed. A hadronic showers’ simulation was performed. Simulated and experimental cascade curves were compared. Neural networks were used to select proton and deuteron events. The deuterium to proton ratio was evaluated as 0.114 ± 0.023, whilst the deuterium to helium ratio was evaluated as 1.64 ± 0.30 for energies between 500 and 2000 GeV/n.