Investigation of the zenith angle dependence of cosmic-ray muons at sea level

Angular distribution of cosmic-ray muons at sea level has been investigated using the Geant4 simulation package. The model used in the simulations was tested by comparing the simulation results with the measurements made using the Berkeley Lab cosmic ray detector. Primary particles’ energy and fluxes were obtained from the experimental measurements. Simulations were run at each zenith angle starting from θ?=?0° up to θ?=?70° with 5° increment. The angular distribution of muons at sea level has been estimated to be in the form I(θ)?=?I(0°) cos ⁿ (θ), where I(0°) is the muon intensity at 0° and n is a function of the muon momentum. The exponent n?=?1.95±0.08 for muons with energies above 1 GeV is in good agreement, within error, with the values reported in the literature.     

Cosmic ray studies with the L3-cosmics program at CERN

The L3 detector at the CERN electron-positron collider had a muon spectrometer which was employed during the last years of LEP operation for cosmic ray studies. The results of this program include a precise muon spectrum and charge ratio between 20 GeV and 3 TeV, a limit on TeV primary antiprotons from a study of the Moon’s shadow, the (possible) observation of a are signal from a fixed position in the northern hemisphere through muons, a solar anisotropy of 200 GeV protons, and other results. Negative limits on muons associated with known H.E. gamma sources or gamma bursts, the search for anomalous H.E. interaction or decay events such as reported from the Kolar Gold Fields, and a search for muons correlated with a solar are are also noted.     

Atmospheric effects in the intensity of cosmic ray muon bundles

We analyze experimental data on cosmic ray muon bundles collected with a DECOR coordinate detector. Substantial variations in the intensity of the events are observed during the experiment. These variations are found to be caused by changes in atmospheric conditions. This study is the first to obtain experimental estimates of the temperature and barometric coefficients for muon bundles. It is shown that the observed effect can be explained by changes in the side distribution function of EAS muons.     

EMMA—a new underground cosmic-ray experiment

An experiment observing underground muons originating from cosmic-ray air showers is under preparation in the Pyhäsalmi mine, Finland. The aim is to cover an area of about 200–300 m², and the detector setup is capable of measuring the muon multiplicity and their lateral distribution. The detector is placed at a depth of about 85 m (corresponding about 240 m w.e.), which gives a threshold energy of muons of about 45 GeV. The detection of the multimuon events is motivated by partly unknown composition of the primary cosmic rays in the energy region of 10¹⁵–10¹⁶ eV, i.e., the knee region. In addition, by measuring only the higher energy muons of the air shower, the lowest energy muons being filtered out by the rock overburden, the data is sensitive also to the studies of the upper parts of the air shower. The experiment will be constructed mainly using drift chambers used previously in LEP detectors at CERN, but it can also be expanded using plastic scintillator detectors. The prototype detector is expected to be running in the beginning of 2006, and the full-size detector by the end of 2007.     

Feasibility studies of the geochemical solar neutrino experiment205Tl(v,e−)205Pb

New investigations on the signal-to-background ratio of the geochemical solar neutrino experiment²⁰⁵Tl(v,e^?)²⁰⁵Pb using thallium minerals from Allchar (Yugoslavia) are presented. The contributions of several background processes producing²⁰⁵Pb induced by natural radioacitivities, stopped negative muons and fast muons are estimated. The production rate of²⁰⁵Pb by cosmic ray muons, derived from experimental investigations with 120, 200 and 280 GeV muons at the high energy muon channel of CERN, is significantly higher than expected by former estimations. The feasibility of the geochemical²⁰⁵T1 solar neutrino experiment is discussed.     

C2GT: intercepting CERN neutrinos to Gran Sasso in the Gulf of Taranto to measure θ13

Today’s greatest challenge in accelerator-based neutrino physics is to measure the mixing angle θ₁₃ which is known to be much smaller than the solar mixing angle θ₁₂ and the atmospheric mixing angle θ₂₃. A non-zero value of the angle θ₁₃ is a prerequisite for observing CP violation in neutrino mixing. In this paper, we discuss a deep-sea neutrino experiment with 1.5 Mt fiducial target mass in the Gulf of Taranto with the prime objective of measuring θ₁₃. The detector is exposed to the CERN neutrino beam to Gran Sasso in off-axis geometry. Monochromatic muon neutrinos of ≈ 800 MeV energy are the dominant beam component. Neutrinos are detected through quasi-elastic, charged-current reactions in sea water; electrons and muons are detected in a large-surface, ring-imaging Cherenkov detector. The profile of the seabed in the Gulf of Taranto allows for a moveable experiment at variable distances from CERN, starting at 1100 km. From the oscillatory pattern of the disappearance of muon neutrinos, the experiment will measure sin²θ₂₃ and especially Δm² ₂₃ with high precision. The appearance of electron neutrinos will be observed with a sensitivity to P(ν_μ→ν_e) as small as 0.0035 (90% CL) and sin²θ₁₃ as small as 0.0019 (90% CL; for a CP phase angle δ=0° and for normal neutrino mass hierarchy).     

Single and multiple muons and the generation of neutrons in the LVD experiment

The large geometric factor and good spatial resolution of the Large Volume Detector (LVD) ensures statistically significant and highly accurate measurements of muon trajectories and determination of the multiplicity of muon groups. The developed algorithm allows us to reconstruct 2 × 10⁶ muon events (single muons and muon groups). Characteristics of muon groups are obtained and the specific yield of neutrons produced by single muons, muon groups, and showers is determined.     

Latitude effect of muons in the Earth’s atmosphere during solar activity minimum

The results of muon flux measurements (E ≥ 70 MeV) in the atmosphere during solar activity minimum are reported. The measurements were performed during Antarctic sea expedition in 1975–1976 at several geomagnetic locations (from 1 to 14 GV). The experimental data obtained made it possible to determine the latitude effect of muons in the distribution at different levels in the atmosphere. The Geant4 program was used to simulate the galactic cosmic ray transport in the Earth’s atmosphere and evaluate the angular and spectral distributions (p, e^?/e⁺, photons, muons) at different atmospheric levels. The experimental and simulated results are in satisfactory agreement.     

Cosmic ray muons at a depth of 754 hg/cm2 in the Kolar gold Mines

A telescope of area 4 m², consisting of horizontal layers of plastic scintillators, neon flash tubes and absorbers was operated at a depth of 754 hg/cm² in the Kolar Gold Mines. New values for the vertical intensities of muons have been obtained from observations of the angular distribution over the slant depths ∼ 750–2300 hg/cm² and are compared with the existing measurements. From the angular distribution observed, we conclude that muons are produced wholly through the decay of pions and kaons up to energies of the order of 1 TeV. A value of 0.3±0.2 is estimated for theK/π ratio at production, for muon energies around 500 GeV. A decoherence distribution has been obtained for parallel muon events up to distances of the order of 10 m. From this we conclude that the averageP _t of the parents of muons of energy ∼ 250 GeV is of the order of 0.3 GeV/c. From an analysis of rock showers, we obtain the cross section for inelastic interaction of muons of mean energy 100 GeV as (3.8±1.5)×10⁻³⁰ cm²/nucleon.     

Variations of neutrons and muons generated by cosmic rays in the atmosphere and in thunderstorm electric fields

We investigate the interrelation between cosmic rays (CRs) and the electric field of the Earth during thunderstorms established by various investigators. The data from simultaneous measurements by spectrograph of CRs and the electric field in Yakutsk are used. It is noted that in seven recorded events of prolonged (up to 9 hours) variations in the electric field by ±5 kV m⁻¹ and in one event of a one-hour increase in the field value up to +20 kV m⁻¹ the CR index rose substantially. During the thunderstorm of the latter event, the intensity of neutrons fell by a considerable 1%. At the same time, a drop of ∼0.3% was observed in the CR muon component. Such effects was not observed for higher energy muons.     

Geometrical CP violation in the N-Higgs-doublet model

Many different experiments are being developed to explore the existence of the neutrinoless double beta decay (0νββ) since it would imply fundamental consequences for particle physics. In this work we present results on the evaluation of Timepix detectors with cadmium-telluride sensor material to search for 0νββ in ¹¹⁶Cd. This work was carried out with the COBRA collaboration and the Medipix collaboration. Due to the relatively small pixel dimension of 110×110×1000 μm³ the energy deposited by particles typically extends over several detector pixels leading to a track in the pixel matrix. We investigated the separation power regarding different event-types like α-particles, atmospheric muons, single electrons and electron-positron pairs produced at a single vertex. We achieved excellent classification power for α-particles and muons. In addition, we achieved good separation power between single electron and electron-positron pair production events. These separation abilities indicate a very good background reduction for the 0νββ search. Further, in order to distinguish between 2νββ and 0νββ, the energy resolution is of particular importance. We carried out simulations which demonstrate that an energy resolution of 0.43 % is achievable at the Q-value for 0νββ of ¹¹⁶Cd at 2.814 MeV. We measured an energy resolution of 1.6 % at a nominal energy of 1589 keV for electron-positron tracks which is about two times worse that predicted by our simulations. This deviation is probably due to the problem of detector calibration at energies above 122 keV which is discussed in this paper as well.     

Fluorescence Anisotropy of Tyrosinate Anion Using One-, Two- and Three-Photon Excitation

We examined the emission spectra and steady-state anisotropy of tyrosinate anion fluorescence with one-photon (250–310 nm), two-photon (570–620 nm) and three-photon (750–930 nm) excitation. Similar emission spectra of the neutral (pH 7.2) and anionic (pH 13) forms of N-acetyl-L-tyrosinamide (NATyrA) (pK_a 10.6) were observed for all modes of excitation, with the maxima at 302 and 352 nm, respectively. Two-photon excitation (2PE) and three-photon excitation (3PE) spectra of the anionic form were the same as that for one-photon excitation (1PE). In contrast, 2PE spectrum from the neutral form showed ~30-nm shift to shorter wavelengths relative to 1PE spectrum (λ_max 275 nm) at two-photon energy (550 nm), the latter being overlapped with 3PE spectrum, both at two-photon energy (550 nm). Two-photon cross-sections for NATyrA anion at 565–580 nm were 10 % of that for N-acetyl-L-tryptophanamide (NATrpA), and increased to 90 % at 610 nm, while for the neutral form of NATyrA decreased from 2 % of that for NATrpA at 570 nm to near zero at 585 nm. Surprisingly, the fundamental anisotropy of NATyrA anion in vitrified solution at ?60 °C was ~0.05 for 2PE at 610 nm as compared to near 0.3 for 1PE at 305 nm, and wavelength-dependence appears to be a basic feature of its anisotropy. In contrast, the 3PE anisotropy at 900 nm was about 0.5, and 3PE and 1PE anisotropy values appear to be related by the cos⁶ θ to cos² θ photoselection factor (approx. 10/6) independently of excitation wavelength. Attention is drawn to the possible effect of tyrosinate anions in proteins on their multi-photon induced fluorescence emission and excitation spectra as well as excitation anisotropy spectra.     

Interaction of high energy muons in association with EAS,with rock and lead

An investigation on the interaction of high energy muons, associated with EAS and having energies greater than several hundred GeV, has been carried out at Kolar Gold Fields. A visual detector consisting of neon flash tube hodoscope has been used together with a scintillator detector to observe the muons and accompanying showers at the underground level. It has been found that nearly 90% of the showers observed at the underground level are generated in course of pure electromagnetic interactions of the muons with the matter traversed by them. The observed number of the showers is found to be consistent with the expected number calculated using the cross-sections for knock-on, bremsstrahlung and direct pair production processes. Rest of the observed showers do not appear to fit in the pure electromagnetic interaction scheme. Various possible production processes for these events have been discussed. Considering these events to be due to photonuclear interaction of muons in the rock, the observed number leads to a production cross-sectionσ _μ (?25 GeV) ?(1.6±0.75)10^?29 cm²/nucl.     

Test of hadron interaction models in the most important energy range of secondary particles in spectra of atmospheric muons

A simple method has been proposed for testing hadron interaction models, which are used to simulate extensive air showers, in observed spectra of atmospheric muons. It has been shown that muon flux intensities in the energy range of 10²–10⁴ GeV that are calculated within the SIBYLL 2.1, QGSJETII-04, and QGSJET01 models exceed the data of the classical experiments L3 + Cosmic, MACRO, and LVD on the spectra of atmospheric muons by a factor of 1.5–2. It has been concluded that these tested models overestimate the generation of secondary particles with the highest energies in elementary events of interaction between hadrons in agreement with the LHCf and TOTEM accelerator experiments.     

Derivation of muon spectrum at high energies from the recent JACEE primary cosmic-ray spectrum using Fermilab data on meson production

Summary The energy spectrum of sea level muons in the range (10²÷10⁴) GeV has been calculated from the latest directly measured JACEE primary spectrum using Fermilab results on pp→π^± X and pp→K^± X inclusive reactions. The conventional pion atmospheric diffusion equation after Bugaevet al. has been used in this analysis to account the flux of muons emerged from the multiple generation of mesons in air. The derived muon spectrum has been compared with the earlier magnetic spectrograph data of Durham and Kiel groups. The latest BAKSAN scintillator telescope data is well in agreement with the calculated integral spectrum originated from the meson decays in the range (1÷10⁴) GeV.     

The extensive air shower muon number spectrum beyond the knee in the cosmic-ray energy spectrum

The extensive air shower (EAS) muon number spectrum is obtained with increased statistics using the central muon detector of the EAS MSU array, which records muons with energies above 10 GeV. The dependence of the mass composition of primary cosmic rays on the energy is considered. The conclusion is confirmed that for energies from 3 × 10¹⁵ eV (the primary energy spectrum knee) up to 10¹⁷ eV a change in the composition associated with an increase in the proportion of heavy nuclei occurs; however, after the energy of 10¹⁷ eV, the proportion of heavy nuclei begins to decrease and the composition becomes lighter. A comparison with similar data from other experiments is conducted. The existence of an additional component of cosmic rays is confirmed; earlier an indication of its presence was derived from data on the EAS electron number spectrum.     

Searching for high speed long-lived charged massive particles at the LHC

The conventional way to search for long-lived CHArged Massive Particles (CHAMPs) is to identify slow (small β) tracks using delayed time of flight and high ionization energy loss. But at the 7–14 TeV center of mass energy of the LHC, a CHAMP may be highly boosted (high β) and therefore look more like a minimum ionizing particle, while for high momentum muons (?500 GeV/c) the radiative effect dominates energy deposition. This suggests a new strategy to search for CHAMPs at the LHC. Using energy deposition from different detector components, we construct a boosted decision tree discriminant to separate high momentum CHAMPs from high momentum muons. This method increases substantially the CHAMP discovery potential and it can be used to distinguish possible di-CHAMP or CHAMP–muon resonance models from di-muon resonance models. We illustrate the new method using a mGMSB model and a recently proposed di-CHAMP model and we give updated CHAMP mass limits for these two models using the results from a recent CDF CHAMP search.     

Potential of the ATLAS detector for studying high-energy solar cosmic rays

The ATLAS detector is intended for testing the Standard Model and for seeking new physics at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). In addition, it permits detecting cosmic-ray muons. At the same time, unusual bursts of the muon intensity that correlate with powerful solar flares were recorded and investigated earlier at the Baksan underground scintillation telescope in the period spanning 1981 and 2006 (2.5 solar cycles). The nature of these muon bursts and their relation to solar cosmic rays have so far remained not quite clear. The ATLAS detector possesses an excellent muon system that allows searches for similar muon bursts. Within the next few years, when the LHC and ATLAS should start operating, one expects an increase in the solar activity in the new 24th cycle. Owing to this, the probability of observing muon bursts may become higher.     

Overview on neutrinos and the Daya Bay experiment

Neutrinos are elementary particles in the Standard Model. Neutrino oscillation is a quantum mechanical phenomenon beyond the Standard Model. Neutrino oscillation can be described by two independent mass-squared differences Δm ₂₁ ² , Δm ₃₁ ² (or Δm ₃₂ ² ) and a 3 × 3 unitary matrix, containing three mixing angles θ ₁₂, θ ₂₃, θ ₁₃, and one charge-parity (CP) phase. θ ₁₂ is about 34° and determined by solar neutrino experiments and the reactor neutrino experiment KamLAND. θ ₂₃ is about 45° and determined by atmospheric neutrino experiments and accelerator neutrino experiments. θ ₁₃ can be measured by either accelerator or reactor neutrino experiments. On Mar. 8, 2012, the Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment reported the first observation of non-zero θ ₁₃ with 5.2 standard deviations. In June, with 2.5× previous data, Daya Bay improved the measurement of sin²2θ ₁₃ = 0.089 ± 0.010(stat) ± 0.005(syst).     

Determination of the atmospheric neutrino spectra with the Fréjus detector

The combined analysis of the final event set of data on neutrino interactions inside the detector, upward going stopping muons and horizontal muons recorded in the Fréjus experiment is presented. The absolute atmospheric neutrino spectra in the energy range for electron neutrinos and for muon neutrinos are determined. Based on the parameterization of Volkova for thev ^µ a spectral index of =2.66±0.05 is obtained from the ratio of horizontal muons over upward going stopping muons and from the measurement of the energy loss of horizontal muons inside the detector. The neutrino spectra are compared with various flux calculations. They do not show any evidence for neutrino oscillations in agreement with earlier analyses of the Fréjus data.Now atUniversity of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA