Two measurements of the cosmic-ray positron fraction as a function of energy have been made using the High Energy Antimatter Telescope (HEAT) balloon-borne instrument. The first flight took place from Ft. Sumner, New Mexico in 1994, and yielded results above the geomagnetic cutoff energy of 4.5 GeV. The second flight from Lynn Lake, Manitoba in 1995 permitted measurements over a larger energy interval, from 1 GeV to 50 GeV. In this letter we present results on the positron fraction based on data from the Lynn Lake flight, and compare these with the previously published results from the Ft. Sumner flight. The results confirm that the positron fraction does not increase with energy above ≈ 10 GeV, although a small excess above purely secondary production cannot be ruled out. At low energies the positron fraction is slightly larger than that reported from measurements made in the 1960's. This effect could possibly be a consequence of charge dependence in the level of solar modulation.

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We present a new measurement of the cosmic-ray positron fraction at energies between 5 and 15 GeV with the balloon-borne HEAT-pbar instrument in the spring of 2000. The data presented here are compatible with our previous measurements, obtained with a different instrument. The combined data from the three HEAT flights indicate a small positron flux of nonstandard origin above 5 GeV. We compare the new measurement with earlier data obtained with the HEAT-e(+/-) instrument, during the opposite epoch of the solar cycle, and conclude that our measurements do not support predictions of charge sign dependent solar modulation of the positron abundance at 5 GeV.

Galactic cosmic rays consist of primary and secondary particles. Primary cosmic rays are thought to be energized by first order Fermi acceleration processes at supernova shock fronts within our Galaxy. The cosmic rays that eventually reach the Earth from this source are mainly protons and atomic nuclei, but also include electrons. Secondary cosmic rays are created in collisions of primary particles with the diffuse interstellar gas. They are relatively rare but carry important information on the Galactic propagation of the primary particles. The secondary component includes a small fraction of antimatter particles, positrons and antiprotons. In addition, positrons and antiprotons may also come from unusual sources and possibly provide insight into new physics. For instance, the annihilation of heavy supersymmetric dark matter particles within the Galactic halo could lead to positrons or antiprotons with distinctive energy signatures. With the High-EnergyAntimatter Telescope (HEAT) balloon-borne instrument, we have measured the abundances of positrons and electrons at energies between 1 and 50 GeV. The data suggest that indeed a small additional antimatter component may be present that cannot be explained by a purely secondary production mechanism. Here we describe the signature of the effect and discuss its possible origin.PACS codes: 95.30. Cq, 95.85.Ry, 96.40.Cd, 96.40.De

We present a new measurement of the antiproton to proton abundance ratio, p/p, in the cosmic radiation. The HEAT-pbar instrument, a balloon borne magnet spectrometer with precise rigidity and multiple energy loss measurement capability, was flown successfully in Spring 2000, at an average atmospheric depth of 7.2 g/cm 2 . A total of 71 antiprotons were identified above the vertical geomagnetic cut-off rigidity of 4.2 GV. The highest measured proton energy was 81 GeV. We find that the p/p abundance ratio agrees with that expected from a purely secondary origin of antiprotons produced by primary protons with a standard soft energy spectrum.