Journal Article

Atmospheric muons measured with the KM3NeT detectors in comparison with updated numeric predictions

Bertin, V., Chabab, M., van Eeden, T., Hernández-Rey, J. J., Pradier, T., Fearraigh, B. Ó., Mitsou, M. L., Dörr, M., Paesani, D., Sapienza, P., Donzaud, C., Šimkovic, F., Migneco, E., Pestel, V., Guillon, B., Atmani, H., Migliozzi, P., Lahmann, R., Oliviero, V., Quiroz-Rangel, C. A., Biagi, S., Diego-Tortosa, D., Perronnel, J., Muller, R., Arsenic, A., Haack, C., Sanfilippo, S., Ferrara, G., Piattelli, P., Breuhaus, M., Tragia, E., Aiello, S., Marconi, M., Guidi, C., Kistauri, G., Ambrosone, A., Distefano, C., Zito, D., Darras, Y., Razzaque, S., Prado, J., Rahaman, U., Nayerhoda, A., van Eijk, D., Wilms, J., Setter, B., Joly, D., Santonastaso, C., Fusco, L. A., Ardid, S., Goswami, P., Cuttone, G., Drakopoulou, E., Schumann, J., Ducoin, J.-G., Bonanno, D., Smirnov, M. V., Vivolo, D., Boettcher, M., Kvatadze, R., Romanov, A., Condorelli, A., Benoit, D. M., Vasileiadis, G., El Bojaddaini, I., Perrin-Terrin, M., Mańczak, J., Schnabel, J., Lehaut, G., Samtleben, D. F. E., Eddymaoui, A., Zywucka, N., Becherini, Y., Díaz, A. F., De Martino, B., Cartraud, T., Robinson, J., Melchor, A. Valer, Moretti, G., Albert, A., Chen, A., Stavropoulos, D., Geißelbrec

2024

Overview

The measurement of the flux of muons produced in cosmic ray air showers is essential for the study of primary cosmic rays. Such measurements are important in extensive air shower detectors to assess the energy spectrum and the chemical composition of the cosmic ray flux, complementary to the information provided by fluorescence detectors. Detailed simulations of the cosmic ray air showers are carried out, using codes such as CORSIKA, to estimate the muon flux at sea level. These simulations are based on the choice of hadronic interaction models, for which improvements have been implemented in the post-LHC era. In this work, a deficit in simulations that use state-of-the-art QCD models with respect to the measurement deep underwater with the KM3NeT neutrino detectors is reported. The KM3NeT/ARCA and KM3NeT/ORCA neutrino telescopes are sensitive to TeV muons originating mostly from primary cosmic rays with energies around 10 TeV. The predictions of state-of-the-art QCD models show that the deficit with respect to the data is constant in zenith angle; no dependency on the water overburden is observed. The observed deficit at a depth of several kilometres is compatible with the deficit seen in the comparison of the simulations and measurements at sea level.

• Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg,Springer,Springer Nature B.V,Springer Verlag (Germany),SpringerOpen
• Subject: Analysis / Astronomy / Astrophysics / Astrophysics and Cosmology / Chemical composition / Cosmic ray showers / Cosmic rays / Detectors / Elementary Particles / Energy spectra / Hadrons / Heavy Ions / High Energy Physics - Experiment / Interaction models / Large Hadron Collider / Measurement Science and Instrumentation / Muons / Neutrinos / Nuclear Energy / Nuclear Physics / Physics / Physics and Astronomy / Primary cosmic rays / Quantum chromodynamics / Quantum Field Theories / Quantum Field Theory / Regular Article - Experimental Physics / Sea level / Sensors / Simulation / Simulation methods / String Theory / Telescope / Telescopes