The observation of up-going charged particles produced by high energy muons in underground detectors

An experimental study of the production of up-going charged particles in inelastic interactions of down-going underground muons is reported, using data obtained from the MACRO detector at the Gran Sasso Laboratory. In a sample of 12.2 x 10 6 single muons, corresponding to a detector lifetime of 1.55y, 243 events are observed having an up-going particle associated with a down-going muon. These events are analysed to determine the range and emission angle distributions of the up-going particle, corrected for detection and reconstruction efficiency. Measurements of the muon neutrino flux by underground detectors are often based on the observation of through-going and stopping muons produced in interactions in the rock below the detector. Up-going particles produced by an undetected down-going muon are a potential background source in these measurements. The implications of this background for neutrino studies using MACRO are discussed. 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.

Ambrosio, M., Antolini, R., Aramo, C., Auriemma, G., Baldini, A., Barbarino, G. C., ... Webb, R.

Ambrosio, M||Antolini, R||Aramo, C||Auriemma, G||Baldini, A||Barbarino, GC||Barish, BC||Battistoni, G||Bellotti, R||Bemporad, C||Bernardini, P||Bilokon, H||Bisi, V||Bloise, C||Bower, C||Bussino, S||Cafagna, F||Calicchio, M||Campana, D||Carboni, M||Castellano, M||Cecchini, S||Cei, F||Chiarella, V||Coutu, S||Cunti, G||De Benedictis, L||De Cataldo, G||Dekhissi, H||De Marzo, C||De Mitri, I||De Vincenzi, M||Di Credico, A||Erriquez, O||Favuzzi, C||Forti, C||Fusco, P||Giacomelli, G||Giannini, G||Giglietto, N||Grassi, M||Gray, L||Grillo, A||Guarino, F||Guarnaccia, P||Gustavino, C||Habig, A||Hanson, K||Hawthorne, A||Heinz, R||Iarocci, E||Katsavounidis, E||Kearns, E||Kyriazopoulou, S||Lamanna, E||Lane, C||Levin, DS||Lipari, P||Longley, NP||Longo, MJ||Maaroufi, F||Mancarella, G||Mandrioli, G||Manzoor, S||Neri, AM||Marini, A||Martello, D||Marzari-Chiesa, A||Mazziotta, MN||Mazzotta, C||Michael, DG||Mikheyev, S||Miller, L||Monacelli, P||Montaruli, T||Monteno, M||Mufson, S||Musser, J||Nicolo, D||Nolty, R||Okada, C||Orth, C||Osteria, G||Palamara, O||Patera, V||Patrizi, L||Pazzi, R||Peck, CW||Petrera, S||Pistilli, P||Popa, V||Pugliese, V||Raino, A||Reynoldson, J||Ronga, F||Rubizzo, U||Sanzgiri, A||Satriano, C||Satta, L||Scapparone, E||Scholberg, K||Sciubba, A||Serra-Lugares, P||Severi, M||Sioli, M||Sitta, M||Spinelli, P||Spinetti, M||Spurio, M||Steinberg, R||Stone, JL||Sulak, LR||Surdo, A||Tarle, G||Togo, V||Walter, CW||Webb, R

The observation of up-going charged particles produced by high energy muons in underground detectors Academic Article