On the interpretation of the primary cosmic-ray energy spectrum of Grigorov et al

The integral energy spectrum of all primary cosmic-ray particles in the energy range 50-10 6 GeV presented by Grigorov et al. (1970, 1971) in a series of proton satellite experiments has been used to derive the differential energy spectrum of primary cosmic-ray nucleons with the help of the recent knowledge of the mass composition of primary cosmic rays. It is found to be represented by the form D(E N )=2.06E N -2.70 cm -2 sr -1 s -1 GeV -1 over the nucleon energy range 50-10 4 GeV. This form D(E N )=2.54 E N -2.60 , suggested by Hoock and Turver (1974) from the experimental results of Grigorov et al. and used extensively by Bhattacharyya and his collaborators (1977) to derive the secondary cosmic-ray spectra, is not justified.