Physics – High Energy Physics – High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
Scientific paper
2009-07-09
JCAP 0909:008,2009
Physics
High Energy Physics
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
10 pages, 4 figures; published version
Scientific paper
10.1088/1475-7516/2009/09/008
In order to estimate the possibility to observe exotic physics in a neutrino telescope, it is essential to first understand the flux of atmospheric neutrinos, muons and dimuons. We study the production of these leptons by high-energy cosmic rays. We identify three main sources of muons of energy E > 10^6 GeV: the weak decay of charm and bottom mesons and the electromagnetic decay of unflavored mesons. Contrary to the standard assumption, we find that eta mesons, not the prompt decay of charm hadrons, are the dominant source of atmospheric muons at these energies. We show that, as a consequence, the ratio between the neutrino and muon fluxes is significantly reduced. For dimuons, which may be a background for long-lived staus produced near a neutrino telescope, we find that pairs of E ~ 10^7 GeV forming an angle above 10^-6 rad are produced through D (80%) or B (10%) meson decay and through Drell-Yan proceses (10%). The frequency of all these processes has been evaluated using the jet code PYTHIA.
Illana Jose Ignacio
Masip Manuel
Meloni Daniela
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