End-to-end simulations of the MUon RAdiography of VESuvius experiment

TL;DR

This paper presents a comprehensive simulation framework for muon radiography of Mount Vesuvius, integrating detector modeling, cosmic ray simulation, and muon transport to improve volcanic density profiling.

Contribution

It introduces an end-to-end simulation setup using GEANT4 and PUMAS, enabling accurate comparison of models with actual muon radiography data.

Findings

Development of a GEANT4-based detector simulation with digitization

Identification of suitable cosmic particle generators for muon studies

Analysis of muon transport through rock using PUMAS and GEANT4

Abstract

The MUon RAdiography of VESuvius (MURAVES) project aims at the study of the summital cone of Mt. Vesuvius, an active volcano near Naples (Italy), by measuring its density profile through muon flux attenuation. Its data, combined with those from gravimetric and seismic measurement campaigns, will be used for better defining the volcanic plug at the bottom of the crater. We report on the development of an end-to-end simulation framework, in order to perform accurate investigations of the effects of the experimental constraints and to compare simulations, under various model hypotheses, with the actual observations. The detector simulation setup is developed using GEANT4 and a study of cosmic particle generators has been conducted to identify the most suitable one for our simulation framework. To mimic the real data, GEANT4 raw hits are converted to clusters through a simulated digitization: energy deposits are first summed per scintillator bar, and then converted to number of photoelectrons with a data-driven procedure. This is followed by the same clustering algorithm and same tracking code as in real data. We also report on the study of muon transport through rock using PUMAS and GEANT4. In this paper we elaborate on the rationale for our technical choices, including trade-off between speed and accuracy. The developments reported here are of general interest in muon radiography and can be applied in similar cases.