Cosmic Ray Muons in Laboratories Deep Underground

TL;DR

This paper presents a comprehensive, open-source computational framework for accurately predicting muon fluxes, spectra, and energies in deep underground laboratories, aiding cosmic ray and dark matter research.

Contribution

It introduces MUTE v3, a new calculation code that models muon fluxes in diverse underground environments without relying on underground measurements.

Findings

Excellent agreement with existing data for most sites

Verification of measurement consistency across different detectors

Open-source tool for accurate muon flux predictions

Abstract

We provide comprehensive calculations of total muon fluxes, energy and angular spectra, and mean muon energies in deep underground laboratories - under flat overburdens and mountains and underwater - using our latest calculation code, MUTE v3. For precise modeling, we compiled rock densities and chemical compositions for various underground labs, as well as topographic map profiles of overburdens, and integrated them into our calculations. Our results show excellent agreement with available data for most underground sites when using the latest surface muon flux model, daemonflux. Moreover, since our calculations do not rely on underground measurements of muons or other secondaries, we can verify the consistency of measurements across different detectors at different sites. MUTE is an open-source, publicly available program, providing a solid framework for accurate muon flux predictions in various underground environments, essential for applications in cosmic ray physics and dark matter searches.