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

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

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Abstract

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 106 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 νμ 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.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)105-117
Number of pages13
JournalAstroparticle Physics
Volume9
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 1998

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