Results of measurements of the flux of albedo muons with NEVOD-DECOR experimental complex

TL;DR

This paper reports on measurements of near-horizontal albedo muons using the NEVOD-DECOR complex, comparing experimental flux data with Monte Carlo simulations based on different nuclear scattering models.

Contribution

It provides new experimental data on albedo muon flux at high zenith angles and evaluates the accuracy of different Monte Carlo models in simulating these muons.

Findings

Measured muon flux intensity at zenith angles 85-95 degrees.

Compared experimental data with Monte Carlo simulations.

Assessed the impact of nuclear size models on muon scattering simulations.

Abstract

Results of investigations of the near-horizontal muons in the range of zenith angles of 85-95 degrees are presented. In this range, so-called "albedo" muons (atmospheric muons scattered in the ground into the upper hemisphere) are detected. Albedo muons are one of the main sources of the background in neutrino experiments. Experimental data of two series of measurements conducted at the experimental complex NEVOD-DECOR with the duration of about 30 thousand hours "live" time are analyzed. The results of measurements of the muon flux intensity are compared with simulation results using Monte-Carlo on the basis of two multiple Coulomb scattering models: model of point-like nuclei and model taking into account finite size of nuclei.