The measurement of the decorrelation function in underground muon pairs as a probe of primary cosmic ray interactions

Abstract

We discuss the measurement of the average angle within pairs of muons detected in underground experiments versus their relative distance, as a tool for studying primary Cosmic Ray interactions. We propose to call 〈 Φ( d)〉 “decorrelation” function. Under simplifying approximation, the decorrelation function can be computed analytically to show its dependence on details of cosmic ray interactions as well as on the propagation in the rock. We argue that this new measurement is useful in a real experiment, complementing traditional ones like the decoherence function.