Measurement Of Muon Flux Research Articles

Measurement of muon flux behind the beam dump of the J-PARC Hadron Experimental Facility

A muon-flux measurement behind the beam dump of the J-PARC Hadron Experimental Facility was performed with a compact muon detector that can be inserted into a vertical observing hole with 81 mm in diameter which was dug underground. The detector consists of 12 plastic scintillation strips with a length of 80 mm each, which are arranged with cylindrical shape and contained inside an aluminum housing with an outer diameter of 75 mm. A silicon photomultiplier is coupled to the end of each strip to collect the scintillating light. The flux of the muons penetrating the beam dump was scanned vertically at intervals of 0.5 m, showing a wide distribution with a maximum at the beam level. The muon flux was consistent with the expectation from a Monte-Carlo simulation at more than 1 m away from the beam axis, which is expected to be used for signal-loss evaluation in the future KOTO II experiment for measuring rare kaon decays. The data can also be used in improving the accuracy of shielding calculations in the radiation protection.

Real-time portable muography with Hankuk Atmospheric-muon Wide Landscaping : HAWL

Cosmic ray muons prove valuable across various fields, from particle physics experiments to non-invasive tomography, thanks to their high flux and exceptional penetrating capability. Utilizing a scintillator detector, one can effectively study the topography of mountains situated above tunnels and underground spaces. The Hankuk Atmospheric-muon Wide Landscaping (HAWL) project successfully charts the mountainous region of eastern Korea by measuring cosmic ray muons with a detector in motion. The real-time muon flux measurement shows a tunnel length accuracy of 6.0%, with a detectable overburden range spanning from 8 to 400 meter-water-equivalent depth. This is the first real-time portable muon tomography.

Application of Geant4 simulation in measurement of cosmic-ray muon flux and studies of muon-induced background

Application of Geant4 simulation in measurement of cosmic-ray muon flux and studies of muon-induced background

Three-dimensional muon imaging of cavities inside the Temperino mine (Italy)

Muon radiography (muography) is an imaging technique based on atmospheric muon absorption in matter that allows to obtain two and three-dimensional images of internal details of hidden objects or structures. The technique relies on atmospheric muon flux measurements performed around and underneath the object under examination. It is a non-invasive and passive technique and thus can be thought of as a valid alternative to common prospecting techniques used in archaeological, geological and civil security fields. This paper describes muon radiography measurements, in the context of archaeological and geological studies carried out at the Temperino mine (LI, Tuscany, Italy), for the search and three-dimensional visualisation of cavities. This mine has been exploited since Etruscan times until recently (1973), and is now an active tourist attraction with public access to the tunnels. Apart from the archaeological interest, the importance of mapping the cavities within this mine lies in identifying the areas where the extraction ores were found and also in the safety issues arising from the tourist presence inside the mine. The three-dimensional imaging is achieved with two different algorithms: one involving a triangulation of two or more measurements at different locations; the other, an innovative technique used here for the first time, is based on the back-projections of reconstructed muon tracks. The latter requires only a single muographic data tacking and is to be preferred in applications where more than one site location can be difficult to access. Finally the quality of the three-dimensional muographic imaging was evaluated by comparing the results with the laser scan profiles obtained for some known cavities within the Temperino mine.

Atmospheric Muon Flux Measurement near Earth’s Equatorial Line

We report measurements of muon flux over the sky of the city of Bogotá at 4°35′56′′ north latitude, 74°04′51′′ west longitude, and an altitude of 2657 m above sea level, carried out with a hodoscope composed of four stations of plastic scintillators located equidistant over a distance of 4.8 m. Measurements were taken at different zenith (θ) angles within the range 1.5° ≤ θ ≤90°, the muon flux data is statistically consistent with a cos2θ dependence, with a χ2 per degree of freedom near unity. If instead, we fit to a cosnθ we obtain n = 2.145±0.046 with a lower χ2 per degree of freedom. Integrating the muon flux distribution as a function of the zenith angle over the solid angle of the upper Earth’s hemisphere allows an estimation of the atmospheric vertical muon rate at the altitude and latitude of Bogota obtaining a value of 255.1 ± 5.8m−2s−1. This estimate is consistent with an independent direct measurement of the vertical muon flux with all detectors stacked horizontally. These measurements play a key role in the further development of detectors, aimed to perform muon imaging of Monserrate Hill, located in Bogotá, where the detectors will be placed at similar locations to those used in the present study.

Borehole cylindrical detector: A compact muon telescope for muon radiography applications

Muon Radiography (or muography) is a recent imaging methodology that uses cosmic muons to investigate the interior of large objects, such as volcanoes, mines or buildings. Some applications are intended to use muography to search for hidden cavities in the subsoil. In many cases the muon telescope needs to be installed underground, inside tunnels, excavated chambers or drilled holes. Usually places available to install the muon detector are difficult to access for people; we thus constructed a very compact cylindrical muon tracker to deal with this problem. Thanks to its shape the detector can be inserted in boreholes. It is 1 m high and has a 24 cm diameter; these dimensions are ideal to fit a realizable drilled well. It is composed of bar and arc-shaped plastic scintillators. The original geometry of sensitive elements allows to maximize the acceptance, minimizing the dead spaces. The new borehole cylindrical detector has been tested in laboratory and the result of a measurement of open sky muon flux is in good agreement with expectations. A first application on field is currently ongoing to validate the capability of the telescope to reveal the presence of underground voids.

Measurement of cosmic-ray muon flux in the underground laboratory at UCIL, India, using plastic scintillators and SiPM

A measurement of cosmic muon flux, in the newly established underground laboratory at the Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL), Jaduguda, Jharkhand, India, has been carried out. Several future low background experiments are planned in this laboratory.The experimental set up for muon flux measurements consists of four plastic scintillators, with three of these coupled to photomultiplier tubes (PMT) to generate a coincidence trigger for acquiring data. The fourth scintillator has been coupled to a Silicon Photomultiplier (SiPM) whose signals were processed with respect to the coincidence trigger. In this scintillator, a mean light yield of 22 photoelectrons per muon event was observed and the measured time resolution was 1.3 ns. The muon flux measurement at the underground laboratory at 555 m (1554±45 m w.e.) depth level was (2.79±0.13(stat)±.20(syst))×10−7cm−2sec−1sr−1. This agrees well with model predictions.This paper describes the detector system, analysis techniques, and results of measurement at the surface and the underground laboratory.

Muon flux measurement at China Jinping Underground Laboratory * *Supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (11620101004, 11475093), the Key Laboratory of Particle & Radiation Imaging (Tsinghua University), the CAS Center for Excellence in Particle Physics (CCEPP), and Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation (2019A1515012216). Portion of this work performed at Brookhaven National Laboratory is

China Jinping Underground Laboratory (CJPL) is ideal for studying solar, geo-, and supernova neutrinos. A precise measurement of the cosmic-ray background is essential in proceeding with R&D research for these MeV-scale neutrino experiments. Using a 1-ton prototype detector for the Jinping Neutrino Experiment (JNE), we detected 264 high-energy muon events from a 645.2-day dataset from the first phase of CJPL (CJPL-I), reconstructed their directions, and measured the cosmic-ray muon flux to be cm s . The observed angular distributions indicate the leakage of cosmic-ray muon background and agree with simulation data accounting for Jinping mountain's terrain. A survey of muon fluxes at different laboratory locations, considering both those situated under mountains and those down mine shafts, indicates that the flux at the former is generally a factor of larger than at the latter, with the same vertical overburden. This study provides a convenient back-of-the-envelope estimation for the muon flux of an underground experiment.

Cosmic muon flux measurement and tunnel overburden structure imaging

We present a cosmic ray muon radiography experiment for measuring the muon flux and imaging the tunnel overburden structures in Changshu, China. The device used in this study is a tracking detector based on the plastic scintillator with SiPM technology, which can be conveniently operated in field works. The compact system with sensitive area of 6400 cm2 can measure the angular distribution of cosmic muons. It's able to image the overburden density length from the surface of overburden to the detector along the muon tracks. The open sky muon flux measurement outside the tunnel has a good agreement with the modified Gassier Formula model. The distributional pattens of muon flux at three positions inside the tunnel are very similar to that of open sky. Assuming the average density of overburden compact sandstone is 2.65 g/cm3, the overburden thickness can be obtained from the density length derived from the difference of muon flux inside and outside the tunnel. Moreover, for known penetrated lengths (i.e., topography of overburden), the density anomalies of the overburden can also been obtained. This study suggests a potential application for imaging and detecting subsurface structures in civil engineering, tunnels or caverns with the cosmic ray muon telescope.

Measurement of azimuthal dependent muon flux by 2 m × 2 m RPC stack at IICHEP-Madurai

The proposed 50 \,kton\, INO-ICAL experiment is an upcoming underground high energy physics experiment planned to be commissioned at Bodi hills near Theni, India ($9^{\circ}57'N$, $77^{\circ}16'E$) to study various properties of neutrino oscillations using atmospheric neutrinos produced by extensive air shower phenomenon. The resistive plate chamber has been chosen as the active detector element for the proposed INO-ICAL. An experimental setup consisting a stack of 12 layers of glass resistive plate chambers each with a size of $\sim$2\,m$\times$2\,m has been built at IICHEP, Madurai to study the performance and long-term stability of the resistive plate chambers(RPCs) commercially produced in large quantities by the Indian industries as well as its electronics for the front-end and subsequent signal processing. In this study, the azimuthal dependence of muon flux at various zenith angles at Madurai (9$^{\circ}$56'N, 78$^{\circ}$00'E and at an altitude of 160\,m above mean sea level) has been presented along with the comparison of Monte Carlo from CORSIKA and HONDA predictions.

MUon Survey Tomography based on Micromegas detectors for Unreachable Sites Technology (MUST2): overview and outlook.

The use of Micro-Pattern Gaseous Detectors in geophysics and civil engineering applications has experienced an increase related to the incorporation of muon tomography in these fields. The Temporal Tomography of Density by the Measurement of Muons project has developed a new direction-sensitive tool for muon flux measurement based on a thin time projection chamber with a bulk-Micromegas readout and SRS electronics. This configuration presents interesting distinctive features, allowing a wide angular acceptance of the detector with a low weight and compact volume. The functioning principle of the device, the results of the characterisation tests, the ongoing work to improve its performance and the next phase to scale up the existing muon camera network at the Low Background Noise Laboratory of Rustrel are presented.

Dependence of atmospheric muon flux on seawater depth measured with the first KM3NeT detection units

KM3NeT is a research infrastructure located in the Mediterranean Sea, that will consist of two deep-sea Cherenkov neutrino detectors. With one detector (ARCA), the KM3NeT Collaboration aims at identifying and studying TeV–PeV astrophysical neutrino sources. With the other detector (ORCA), the neutrino mass ordering will be determined by studying GeV-scale atmospheric neutrino oscillations. The first KM3NeT detection units were deployed at the Italian and French sites between 2015 and 2017. In this paper, a description of the detector is presented, together with a summary of the procedures used to calibrate the detector in-situ. Finally, the measurement of the atmospheric muon flux between 2232–3386 m seawater depth is obtained.

Improvements of data analysis and self-consistent monitoring methods for the MEV telescope

The MEV project is running for a long-term muography measurement at the North-East crater of the Etna Volcano, after the successful conclusion of the test phase in July 2017. Two sets of data were already acquired during 2017, during the last months of the summer, and 2018. Data analysis is currently ongoing in order to extract a two-dimensional density map of the target from the measured muon flux. But before, a major improvement on data pre-processing was required. It regards in particular the algorithm for event reconstruction and filtering and the introduction of a method to extract the telescope efficiency from data themselves. The main steps of this pre-analysis and their application to the test data set is described in this paper.

Muography applications developed by IFIN-HH.

Cosmic-ray muons have been studied at IFIN-HH for more than 20 years. Starting as fundamental physics research, the muon flux measurements bring new directions of study regarding muography. Two new directions have been recently developed: underground muon scanning of old mining sites in order to detect the possible presence of unknown cavities and underwater scanning of ships in commercial harbours in order to prevent the illegal traffic of radioactive materials. The main goal of the first direction of study is to improve the security of underground civilian and industrial infrastructures, by starting the development of a new, innovative detection system that can be used to identify potentially dangerous conditions using a non-invasive, totally safe method. The method proposed uses information provided by a device placed underground that measures directional cosmic muon flux and identifies anomalies produced by irregularities in the geological layers above. For the second direction of study, the method proposed is based on the detection and analysis of the cosmic muon flux. The high-density materials (uranium, lead-used for radiation shielding, etc.) cause a decrease in the directional muon flux. The detection system will be submerged underneath the ship that will be scanned, being able to locate illegal radioactive materials without exposing any personnel to radiation or contamination. Correlated with simulations based on the known configuration of the ship scanned, the data provided by the detection system will provide the location and dimensions of the undeclared material transported.This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue 'Cosmic-ray muography'.

Applications of muon absorption radiography to the fields of archaeology and civil engineering.

Muon radiography, also known as muography, is an imaging technique that provides information on the mass density distribution inside large objects. Muons are naturally produced in the interactions of cosmic rays in the Earth's atmosphere. The physical process exploited by muography is the attenuation of the muon flux, that depends on the thickness and density of matter that muons cross in the course of their trajectory. A particle detector with tracking capability allows the measurement of the muons flux as a function of the muon direction. The comparison of the measured muon flux with the expected one gives information on the distribution of the density of matter, in particular, on the presence of cavities. In this article, the measurement performed at Mt. Echia in Naples (Saracino 2017 Sci. Rep. 7, 1181. (doi:10.1038/s41598-017-01277-3)), will be discussed as a practical example of the possible application of muography in archaeology and civil engineering.This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue 'Cosmic-ray muography'.

Investigation of the limits of high-definition muography for observation of Mt Sakurajima.

A multi-wire proportional chamber-based muo- graphy observatory is under development for the monitoring of the internal structure of Mt Sakurajima in Kyushu, Japan. We investigated the limits of large-scale and high-definition muography. We adjusted the parameters of a modified Gaisser model and found that the spectral index of γ = − 2.64 and normalization factor of C = 0.66 reproduce more accurately the measured fluxes than the original parameters at large thickness. A thickness and zenith angle-dependent correction is suggested to the measured muon flux due to the energy cut which is introduced to suppress the background particles. The multiple scattering of muons was simulated across the standard rock and sea-level atmosphere up to the distance of 5 km. We found that multiple scattering decreases from 10 mrad to 4 mrad across the rock due to the decrease in the steepness of muon spectra. The multiple scattering falls down to about 2 mrad after the object in the atmosphere due to the increase in observed arrival zenith angles. The 2 m2 sized multi-wire proportional chamber-based Muographic Observation System (MMOS) was operating between February and June 2018. Three tracking systems operated reliably with tracking efficiencies of above 95%. The muon flux has been measured correctly down to 10−3 m−2 sr−1 s−1. The average density map of Mt Sakurajima has been measured with angular resolution of 12 mrad × 12 mrad (spatial resolution of 34 m × 34 m from the distance of 2.8 km). The average density values were found between 1.4 and 2 g cm−3, except at the crater regions where lower densities were observed.This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue ‘Cosmic-ray muography’.

Muon flux measurements at the davis campus of the sanford underground research facility with the majorana demonstrator veto system

We report the first measurement of the total muon flux underground at the Davis Campus of the Sanford Underground Research Facility at the 4850 ft level. Measurements were performed using the MajoranaDemonstrator muon veto system arranged in two different configurations. The measured total flux is (5.31±0.17)×10−9μ/s/cm2.

Muon flux measurements at the davis campus of the sanford underground research facility with the majorana demonstrator veto system

Muon flux measurements at the davis campus of the sanford underground research facility with the majorana demonstrator veto system

3-D density imaging with muon flux measurements from underground galleries

3-D density imaging with muon flux measurements from underground galleries

Results of measurements of the atmospheric muon flux in the zenith angle range of 85°–95°

The results of the study of the near-horizontal muon flux in the zenith angle range of 85–95 degrees are presented. In particular, the so-called albedo muons (atmospheric muons backscattered in the ground to the upper hemisphere are recorded in this range. The data of measurement series performed at the NEVOD-DECOR experimental complex are analyzed for 30 thousand of “live” time hours. Multiple Coulomb scattering of muons in the ground is simulated by theMonte-Carlo method using various models. The measured muon flux intensity is compared with the simulation results.