Temperature effects in high-energy muon fluxes and the problem of reconstructing the atmospheric temperature profile

The temperature dependence of the high-energy muon flux is investigated using the experimental data from the Baksan Underground Scintillation Telescope. A method for reconstructing the atmosphere temperature profile is discussed.     

Investigation of the spectrum of high-energy muons by the method of multiple interactions on the basis of data from the Baksan underground scintillation telescope

Experimental data obtained with the aid of the Baksan underground scintillation telescope over a long period of its operation are analyzed with the aim of searches for an excess flux of ultrahigh-energy (≥100 TeV)muons. The multiple-interaction method, which is based on the ideas of the pair-meter technique, is used to analyze the energy spectrum of the muons. The phenomenological parameters of this method and its sensitivity to the shape of the spectrum are discussed. The experimental distributions are compared with the results of calculations for various versions of the muon spectrum. The possibility of separating ultrahigh-energy muons that fly in the vicinity of the axis of extensive air showers is assessed on the basis of the integrated number of recorded and simulated events featuring large energy depositions.     

Searching for neutrino bursts in the galaxy: 36 years of exposure

The Baksan Underground Scintillation Telescope has operated within the program of searching for neutrino bursts since the mid-1980s. We present the current status of the experiment and some results related to the investigation of background events and the stability of facility operation. Over the period from June 30, 1980, to December 31, 2016, the pure observation time was 31.27 years. No neutrino burst candidate event from the explosion of a core-collapse supernova in the Galaxy was recorded in this time. This sets an upper bound of 0.074 yr^–1 on the mean frequency of gravitational stellar collapses in the Galaxy at a 90% confidence level.     

The search for neutrino bursts from core collapse Supernovae at the Baksan Underground Scintillation Telescope

The current status of the experiment on recording neutrino bursts from core collapse stars is presented. The actual observational time T (from June 30, 1980 until December 31, 2009) is 25.58 years. An upper bound of the mean frequency of gravitational collapse in our Galaxy f _col < 0.090 year^?1 at a 90% confidence level. The results of studying single events at the facility in the case of muon inelastic interaction of cosmic rays with the matter of the detector are presented.     

Multiple interactions of muons in BUST

Analysis of the experimental data for a long period of Baksan underground scintillation telescope (BUST) operation to search for very-high-energy muons is presented. The phenomenological parameters and the sensitivity of the method of multiple interactions, based on the concepts of the pair-meter technique, are discussed. The experimental distributions are compared with the results of calculations for a “conventional” muon spectrum, based on 3D simulation of muon passage through the telescope.     

Total cross section for photon-nucleon interaction in the energy range $$\sqrt \mathcal{S} = 40 - 250 GeV$$

Results obtained by directly measuring the total cross section for photon-nucleon interaction through recording photoproduction processes at the Baksan underground scintillation telescope of the Institute for Nuclear Research (Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow) are presented. The effect of a faster growth of photon-hadron cross sections in relation to hadron-hadron cross sections is confirmed in the energy range \(\sqrt \mathcal{S} = 40 - 130 GeV\). It is shown that an increase in the number of additive quarks in photon-hadronization products may be one of the reasons behind this effect. Experimental data on the cross sections for photon-nucleon and photon-photon interactions are subjected to a comparative analysis, and the status of the results obtained from direct and indirect cross-section measurements in the high-energy region is discussed.