Measurement of low energy component of the flux of cosmic rays using nuclear track detectors

TL;DR

This study measures the ratio of vertical to horizontal low-energy muon flux at ground level using plastic track detectors over 160 days, highlighting the significance of low-energy muons as a radioactive background source.

Contribution

It introduces a method to quantify low-energy muon flux components using plastic track detectors, emphasizing their role in background radiation.

Findings

Measured flux ratio of low-energy muons at ground level

Identified low-energy muons as a significant radioactive background

Collected data over 160 days for robust analysis

Abstract

The effects induced by muons with very low energies are usually neglected. In fact, they could represent a source of radioactive background due to capture processes in different materials, which in most of cases produce radioactive isotopes, and thus they must be taken into account. Plastic track detectors have been used in the present paper to measure the ratio between the vertical and horizontal components of the flux of very low energy terrestrial muons at ground level. The data have been collected during 160 days.