Measurements of neutrons produced by high-energy muons at the Boulby Underground Laboratory

H. M. Araújo; J. Blockley; C. Bungau; M. J. Carson; H. Chagani; E. Daw; B. Edwards; C. Ghag; E. V. Korolkova; V. A. Kudryavtsev; P. K. Lightfoot; A. Lindote; I. Liubarsky; R. Lüscher; P. Majewski; K. Mavrokoridis; J. E. McMillan; A. St J Murphy; S. M. Paling; J. Pinto da Cunha; R. M. Preece; M. Robinson; N. J T Smith; P. F. Smith; N. J C Spooner; T. J. Sumner; R. J. Walker; H. Wang; J. White

doi:10.1016/j.astropartphys.2008.05.004

Measurements of neutrons produced by high-energy muons at the Boulby Underground Laboratory

H. M. Araújo, J. Blockley, C. Bungau, M. J. Carson, H. Chagani, E. Daw, B. Edwards, C. Ghag, E. V. Korolkova, V. A. Kudryavtsev, P. K. Lightfoot, A. Lindote, I. Liubarsky, R. Lüscher, P. Majewski, K. Mavrokoridis, J. E. McMillan, A. St J Murphy, S. M. Paling, J. Pinto da CunhaR. M. Preece, M. Robinson, N. J T Smith, P. F. Smith, N. J C Spooner, T. J. Sumner, R. J. Walker, H. Wang, J. White

Physics and Astronomy (Twin Cities)

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

36 Scopus citations

Abstract

We present the first measurements of the muon-induced neutron flux at the Boulby Underground Laboratory. The experiment was carried out with an 0.73 tonne liquid scintillator that also served as an anticoincidence system for the ZEPLIN-II direct dark matter search. The experimental method exploited the delayed coincidences between high-energy muon signals and gamma-rays from radiative neutron capture on hydrogen or other elements. The muon-induced neutron rate, defined as the average number of detected neutrons per detected muon, was measured as 0.079 ± 0.003 (stat.) neutrons/muon using neutron-capture signals above 0.55 MeV in a time window of 40-190 μs after the muon trigger. Accurate Monte Carlo simulations of the neutron production, transport and detection in a precisely modeled laboratory and experimental setup using the GEANT4 toolkit gave a result 1.8 times higher than the measured value. The difference greatly exceeds all statistical and systematic uncertainties. As the vast majority of neutrons detected in the current setup were produced in lead we evaluated from our measurements the neutron yield in lead as (1.31 ± 0.06) × 10^{- 3} neutrons/muon/(g/cm²) for a mean muon energy of about 260 GeV.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	471-481
Number of pages	11
Journal	Astroparticle Physics
Volume	29
Issue number	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.astropartphys.2008.05.004
State	Published - Jul 2008

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work has been supported by the ILIAS integrating activity (Contract No. RII3-CT-2004-506222) as part of the EU FP6 programme in Astroparticle Physics. We acknowledge the financial support from the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC, currently Science and Technology Facility Council – STFC), the US Department of Energy (Grant numbers DE-FG03-91ER40662 and DE-FG03-95ER40917), the US National Science Foundation (Grants PHY-0139065 and PHY-0653459) and from Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (project POCI/FP/81928/2007). We are grateful to the Nuffield Foundation for the support of J. Blockley through Undergraduate Research Bursary (Grant URB/34132/2007). We also wish to thank Cleveland Potash Ltd for assistance.

Keywords

Cosmic-ray muons
Muon-induced neutron background
Neutrons
Underground experiments

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10.1016/j.astropartphys.2008.05.004

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Araújo, H. M., Blockley, J., Bungau, C., Carson, M. J., Chagani, H., Daw, E., Edwards, B., Ghag, C., Korolkova, E. V., Kudryavtsev, V. A., Lightfoot, P. K., Lindote, A., Liubarsky, I., Lüscher, R., Majewski, P., Mavrokoridis, K., McMillan, J. E., Murphy, A. S. J., Paling, S. M., ... White, J. (2008). Measurements of neutrons produced by high-energy muons at the Boulby Underground Laboratory. Astroparticle Physics, 29(6), 471-481. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.astropartphys.2008.05.004

Araújo, HM, Blockley, J, Bungau, C, Carson, MJ, Chagani, H, Daw, E, Edwards, B, Ghag, C, Korolkova, EV, Kudryavtsev, VA, Lightfoot, PK, Lindote, A, Liubarsky, I, Lüscher, R, Majewski, P, Mavrokoridis, K, McMillan, JE, Murphy, ASJ, Paling, SM, Pinto da Cunha, J, Preece, RM, Robinson, M, Smith, NJT, Smith, PF, Spooner, NJC, Sumner, TJ, Walker, RJ, Wang, H & White, J 2008, 'Measurements of neutrons produced by high-energy muons at the Boulby Underground Laboratory', Astroparticle Physics, vol. 29, no. 6, pp. 471-481. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.astropartphys.2008.05.004

@article{7129dd90b48148c99cfe23a0d628ddf9,

title = "Measurements of neutrons produced by high-energy muons at the Boulby Underground Laboratory",

abstract = "We present the first measurements of the muon-induced neutron flux at the Boulby Underground Laboratory. The experiment was carried out with an 0.73 tonne liquid scintillator that also served as an anticoincidence system for the ZEPLIN-II direct dark matter search. The experimental method exploited the delayed coincidences between high-energy muon signals and gamma-rays from radiative neutron capture on hydrogen or other elements. The muon-induced neutron rate, defined as the average number of detected neutrons per detected muon, was measured as 0.079 ± 0.003 (stat.) neutrons/muon using neutron-capture signals above 0.55 MeV in a time window of 40-190 μs after the muon trigger. Accurate Monte Carlo simulations of the neutron production, transport and detection in a precisely modeled laboratory and experimental setup using the GEANT4 toolkit gave a result 1.8 times higher than the measured value. The difference greatly exceeds all statistical and systematic uncertainties. As the vast majority of neutrons detected in the current setup were produced in lead we evaluated from our measurements the neutron yield in lead as (1.31 ± 0.06) × 10- 3 neutrons/muon/(g/cm2) for a mean muon energy of about 260 GeV.",

keywords = "Cosmic-ray muons, Muon-induced neutron background, Neutrons, Underground experiments",

author = "Ara{\'u}jo, \{H. M.\} and J. Blockley and C. Bungau and Carson, \{M. J.\} and H. Chagani and E. Daw and B. Edwards and C. Ghag and Korolkova, \{E. V.\} and Kudryavtsev, \{V. A.\} and Lightfoot, \{P. K.\} and A. Lindote and I. Liubarsky and R. L{\"u}scher and P. Majewski and K. Mavrokoridis and McMillan, \{J. E.\} and Murphy, \{A. St J\} and Paling, \{S. M.\} and \{Pinto da Cunha\}, J. and Preece, \{R. M.\} and M. Robinson and Smith, \{N. J T\} and Smith, \{P. F.\} and Spooner, \{N. J C\} and Sumner, \{T. J.\} and Walker, \{R. J.\} and H. Wang and J. White",

note = "Funding Information: This work has been supported by the ILIAS integrating activity (Contract No. RII3-CT-2004-506222) as part of the EU FP6 programme in Astroparticle Physics. We acknowledge the financial support from the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC, currently Science and Technology Facility Council – STFC), the US Department of Energy (Grant numbers DE-FG03-91ER40662 and DE-FG03-95ER40917), the US National Science Foundation (Grants PHY-0139065 and PHY-0653459) and from Funda{\c c}{\~a}o para a Ci{\^e}ncia e Tecnologia (project POCI/FP/81928/2007). We are grateful to the Nuffield Foundation for the support of J. Blockley through Undergraduate Research Bursary (Grant URB/34132/2007). We also wish to thank Cleveland Potash Ltd for assistance.",

year = "2008",

month = jul,

doi = "10.1016/j.astropartphys.2008.05.004",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "29",

pages = "471--481",

journal = "Astroparticle Physics",

issn = "0927-6505",

publisher = "Elsevier B.V.",

number = "6",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Measurements of neutrons produced by high-energy muons at the Boulby Underground Laboratory

AU - Araújo, H. M.

AU - Blockley, J.

AU - Bungau, C.

AU - Carson, M. J.

AU - Chagani, H.

AU - Daw, E.

AU - Edwards, B.

AU - Ghag, C.

AU - Korolkova, E. V.

AU - Kudryavtsev, V. A.

AU - Lightfoot, P. K.

AU - Lindote, A.

AU - Liubarsky, I.

AU - Lüscher, R.

AU - Majewski, P.

AU - Mavrokoridis, K.

AU - McMillan, J. E.

AU - Murphy, A. St J

AU - Paling, S. M.

AU - Pinto da Cunha, J.

AU - Preece, R. M.

AU - Robinson, M.

AU - Smith, N. J T

AU - Smith, P. F.

AU - Spooner, N. J C

AU - Sumner, T. J.

AU - Walker, R. J.

AU - Wang, H.

AU - White, J.

N1 - Funding Information: This work has been supported by the ILIAS integrating activity (Contract No. RII3-CT-2004-506222) as part of the EU FP6 programme in Astroparticle Physics. We acknowledge the financial support from the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC, currently Science and Technology Facility Council – STFC), the US Department of Energy (Grant numbers DE-FG03-91ER40662 and DE-FG03-95ER40917), the US National Science Foundation (Grants PHY-0139065 and PHY-0653459) and from Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (project POCI/FP/81928/2007). We are grateful to the Nuffield Foundation for the support of J. Blockley through Undergraduate Research Bursary (Grant URB/34132/2007). We also wish to thank Cleveland Potash Ltd for assistance.

PY - 2008/7

Y1 - 2008/7

N2 - We present the first measurements of the muon-induced neutron flux at the Boulby Underground Laboratory. The experiment was carried out with an 0.73 tonne liquid scintillator that also served as an anticoincidence system for the ZEPLIN-II direct dark matter search. The experimental method exploited the delayed coincidences between high-energy muon signals and gamma-rays from radiative neutron capture on hydrogen or other elements. The muon-induced neutron rate, defined as the average number of detected neutrons per detected muon, was measured as 0.079 ± 0.003 (stat.) neutrons/muon using neutron-capture signals above 0.55 MeV in a time window of 40-190 μs after the muon trigger. Accurate Monte Carlo simulations of the neutron production, transport and detection in a precisely modeled laboratory and experimental setup using the GEANT4 toolkit gave a result 1.8 times higher than the measured value. The difference greatly exceeds all statistical and systematic uncertainties. As the vast majority of neutrons detected in the current setup were produced in lead we evaluated from our measurements the neutron yield in lead as (1.31 ± 0.06) × 10- 3 neutrons/muon/(g/cm2) for a mean muon energy of about 260 GeV.

AB - We present the first measurements of the muon-induced neutron flux at the Boulby Underground Laboratory. The experiment was carried out with an 0.73 tonne liquid scintillator that also served as an anticoincidence system for the ZEPLIN-II direct dark matter search. The experimental method exploited the delayed coincidences between high-energy muon signals and gamma-rays from radiative neutron capture on hydrogen or other elements. The muon-induced neutron rate, defined as the average number of detected neutrons per detected muon, was measured as 0.079 ± 0.003 (stat.) neutrons/muon using neutron-capture signals above 0.55 MeV in a time window of 40-190 μs after the muon trigger. Accurate Monte Carlo simulations of the neutron production, transport and detection in a precisely modeled laboratory and experimental setup using the GEANT4 toolkit gave a result 1.8 times higher than the measured value. The difference greatly exceeds all statistical and systematic uncertainties. As the vast majority of neutrons detected in the current setup were produced in lead we evaluated from our measurements the neutron yield in lead as (1.31 ± 0.06) × 10- 3 neutrons/muon/(g/cm2) for a mean muon energy of about 260 GeV.

KW - Cosmic-ray muons

KW - Muon-induced neutron background

KW - Neutrons

KW - Underground experiments

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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=46749123409&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.astropartphys.2008.05.004

DO - 10.1016/j.astropartphys.2008.05.004

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:46749123409

SN - 0927-6505

VL - 29

SP - 471

EP - 481

JO - Astroparticle Physics

JF - Astroparticle Physics

IS - 6

ER -

Measurements of neutrons produced by high-energy muons at the Boulby Underground Laboratory

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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