A Measurement of the Flux of Secondary Cosmic Ray Muons and Protons in the Earth's Atmosphere

Computer Science – Performance

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Neutrino Anomaly

Scientific paper

A measurement of the absolute fluxes of secondary protons and muons as a function of depth in the atmosphere is made using data collected during the 1994 ascent of the High Energy Antimatter Telescope (HEAT), a large acceptance balloon-borne magnetic spectrometer. The HEAT instrument and first flight are described in detail, especially the electromagnetic calorimeter design, data analysis, and performance. The Monte Carlo simulation of the HEAT instrument using GEANT is also described in detail. Results for the muon charge ratio, absolute flux of μ±, and absolute flux of protons are given in the momentum interval 0.4-1.0 GeV/c. The absolute flux of μsp- is extended out to 40 GeV/c because the proton background is not present in negative rigidities. To date, Monte Carlo methods for the calculation of fluxes of atmospheric neutrinos have shown an anomalously large value of the atmospheric νμ/ν e flux ratio as compared to measurements by several large underground detectors. Possible reasons for the anomaly are reviewed. The experimental result is in agreement with previously measured atmospheric muon fluxes. A toy Monte Carlo simulation of the atmosphere was developed using GEANT which reproduces the charge ratio of muons well, but fails to reproduce the absolute fluxes of muons well below 1 GeV, especially at high altitude. The results do not require modification of current theories regarding the source of the atmospheric neutrino anomaly.

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