Probing very high energy prompt muon and neutrino fluxes and the cosmic ray knee viaunderground muons

Abstract

We calculate event rates and demonstrate the observational feasibility of veryhigh energy muons (1–1000 TeV) in a large-mass underground detector operatingas a pair-meter. This energy range corresponds to surface muon energies of∼(5–5000 TeV) and primary cosmicray energies of ∼(50 TeV–5 × 104 TeV). Such measurements would significantly assist in an improved understanding of the prompt contributionto νe,νμ and μ fluxes in present and future ultra high energy neutrino detectors. In addition, they wouldshed light on the origin of and possible compositional changes at and around the observed‘knee’ in the cosmic ray spectrum.