Cosmic-muon flux and annual modulation in Borexino at 3800 m water-equivalent depth
G. Bellini, J. Benziger, D. Bick, G. Bonfini, D. Bravo, M. Buizza Avanzini, B. Caccianiga, L. Cadonati, F. Calaprice, C. Carraro, P. Cavalcante, A. Chavarria, A… 展开作者
G. Bellini, J. Benziger, D. Bick, G. Bonfini, D. Bravo, M. Buizza Avanzini, B. Caccianiga, L. Cadonati, F. Calaprice, C. Carraro, P. Cavalcante, A. Chavarria, A. Chepurnov, D. D'Angelo, S. Davini, A. Derbin, A. Etenko, F. von Feilitzsch, K. Fomenko, D. Franco, C. Galbiati, S. Gazzana, C. Ghiano, M. Giammarchi, M. Goeger-Neff, A. Goretti, L. Grandi, E. Guardincerri, C. Hagner, S. Hardy, Aldo Ianni, Andrea Ianni, D. Korablev, G. Korga, Y. Koshio, D. Kryn, M. Laubenstein, T. Lewke, E. Litvinovich, B. Loer, F. Lombardi, P. Lombardi, L. Ludhova, I. Machulin, S. Manecki, W. Maneschg, G. Manuzio, Q. Meindl, E. Meroni, L. Miramonti, M. Misiaszek, D. Montanari, P. Mosteiro, V. Muratova, L. Oberauer, M. Obolensky, F. Ortica, K. Otis, M. Pallavicini, L. Papp, L. Perasso, S. Perasso, A. Pocar, R. S. Raghavan, G. Ranucci, A. Razeto, A. Re, A. Romani, A. Sabelnikov, R. Saldanha, C. Salvo, S. Schönert, H. Simgen, M. Skorokhvatov, O. Smirnov, A. Sotnikov, S. Sukhotin, Y. Suvorov, R. Tartaglia, G. Testera, D. Vignaud, R. B. Vogelaar, J. Winter, M. Wojcik, A. Wright, M. Wurm, J. Xu, O. Zaimidoroga, S. Zavatarelli, G. Zuzel
备注:
14 pages, 8 figures, published on JCAP as JCAP05(2012)015 on May 15th 2012
We have measured the muon flux at the underground Gran Sasso National Laboratory (3800 m w.e.) to be (3.41 \pm 0.01) \times 10-4m-2s-1 using four years of Borexino data. A modulation of this signal is observed with a period of (366\pm3) days and a relative amplitude of (1.29 \pm 0.07)%. The measured phase is (179 \pm 6) days, corresponding to a maximum on the 28th of June. Using the most complete atmospheric data models available, muon rate fluctuations are shown to be positively correlated with atmospheric temperature, with an effective coefficient αT = 0.93 \pm 0.04. This result represents the most precise study of the muon flux modulation for this site and is in good agreement with expectations.
We have measured the speed of muon neutrinos with the Borexino detector using short-bunch CNGS beams. The final result for the difference in time-of-flight between a <E>=17 GeV muon neutrino and a particle moving at the speed of light in vacuum is δt = 0.8 \pm 0.7stat \pm 2.9sys ns, well consistent with zero.
Borexino is an organic liquid scintillator detector located in the underground Gran Sasso National Laboratory (Italy). It is devoted mainly to the real time spectroscopy of low energy solar neutrinos via the elastic scattering on electrons in the target mass. The data taking campaign started in 2007 and led to key measurements of 7}Be and 8B solar neutrinos as well as antineutrinos from the earth (geo-neutrinos) and from nuclear power reactors. Borexino is also a powerful tool for the study of cosmic muons that penetrate the Gran Sasso rock coverage and thereby induced signals such as neutrons…
Borexino is an experiment for low energy neutrino spectroscopy at the Gran Sasso underground laboratories. It is designed to measure the mono-energetic $^7$Be solar neutrino flux in real time, via neutrino-electron elastic scattering in ultra-pure organic liquid scintillator. Borexino has the potential to also detect neutrinos from the \emph{pep} fusion process and the CNO cycle. For this measurement to be possible, radioactive contamination in the detector must be kept extremely low. Once sufficiently clean conditions are met, the main background source is $^{11}$C, produced in reactions indu…
This paper gathers arguments and reasons why muons surviving the Gran Sasso mountain cannot mimic the Dark Matter annual modulation signature exploited by the DAMA/NaI and DAMA/LIBRA experiments. A number of these items have already been presented in individual papers. Further arguments have been addressed here in order to present a comprehensive collection and to enable a wider community to correctly approach this point.
The solar neutrino experiment Borexino, which is located in the Gran Sasso underground laboratories, is in a unique position to study muon-induced backgrounds in an organic liquid scintillator. In this study, a large sample of cosmic muons is identified and tracked by a muon veto detector external to the liquid scintillator, and by the specific light patterns observed when muons cross the scintillator volume. The yield of muon-induced neutrons is found to be Yn =(3.10+-0.11)10-4 n/(μ (g/cm2)). The distance profile between the parent muon track and the neutron capture point has the average valu…
We report the measurement of muons and muon-induced phosphorescence in DM-Ice17, a NaI(Tl) direct detection dark matter experiment at the South Pole. Muon interactions in the crystal are identified by their observed pulse shape and large energy depositions. The measured muon rate in DM-Ice17 is 2.93 +/- 0.04 muons/crystal/day with a modulation amplitude of 12.3 +/- 1.7%, consistent with expectation. Following muon interactions, we observe long-lived phosphorescence in the NaI(Tl) crystals with a decay time of 5.5 +/- 0.5 s. The prompt energy deposited by a muon is correlated to the amount of d…
We report a measurement of muon annual modulation in a 12-liter liquid scintillation detector with a live-time of more than 4 years at the Soudan Underground Laboratory. Muon minimum ionization in the detector is identified by its observed pulse shape and large energy deposition. The measured muon rate in the detector is 28.69$\pm$2.09 muons per day with a modulation amplitude of 2.66$\pm$ 1.0\% and a phase at Jul 22 $\pm$ 36.2 days. This annual modulation is correlated with the variation of the effective atmospheric temperature in the stratosphere. The correlation coefficient, $α_{T}$, is det…
We estimate rates of solar neutrino-induced neutrons in a DAMA/LIBRA-like detector setup, and find that the needed contribution to explain the annual modulation would require neutrino-induced neutron cross sections several orders of magnitude larger than current calculations indicate. Although these cross sections have never been measured, it is likely that the solar-neutrino effect on DAMA/LIBRA is negligible.
We have measured the flux of cosmic muons in the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso at 3800\,m\,w.e. to be $(3.432 \pm 0.003)\cdot 10^{-4}\,\mathrm{{m^{-2}s^{-1}}}$ based on ten years of Borexino data acquired between May 2007 and May 2017. A seasonal modulation with a period of $(366.3 \pm 0.6)\,\mathrm{d}$ and a relative amplitude of $(1.36 \pm0.04)\%$ is observed. The phase is measured to be $(181.7 \pm 0.4)\,\mathrm{d}$, corresponding to a maximum at the 1$^\mathrm{st}$ of July. Using data inferred from global atmospheric models, we show the muon flux to be positively correlated with the …
This paper summarizes in a simple and intuitive way why the neutrons, the muons and the solar neutrinos cannot give any significant contribution to the DAMA annual modulation results. A number of these elements have already been presented in individual papers; they are recalled here. Afterwards, few simple considerations are summarized which already demonstrate the incorrectness of the claim reported in PRL 113 (2014) 081302.
We report measurements of annual and diurnal modulations of the cosmic-ray muon rate in the Yangyang underground laboratory (Y2L) using 952 days of COSINE-100 data acquired between September 2016 and July 2019. A correlation of the muon rate with the atmospheric temperature is observed and its amplitude on the muon rate is determined. The effective atmospheric temperature and muon rate variations are positively correlated with a measured effective temperature coefficient of $α_{T}$ = 0.80 $\pm$ 0.11. This result is consistent with a model of meson production in the atmosphere. We also searched…
Borexino has been running since May 2007 at the LNGS with the primary goal of detecting solar neutrinos. The detector, a large, unsegmented liquid scintillator calorimeter characterized by unprecedented low levels of intrinsic radioactivity, is optimized for the study of the lower energy part of the spectrum. During the Phase-I (2007-2010) Borexino first detected and then precisely measured the flux of the 7Be solar neutrinos, ruled out any significant day-night asymmetry of their interaction rate, made the first direct observation of the pep neutrinos, and set the tightest upper limit on the …
The CoGeNT collaboration has recently published results from a fifteen month data set which indicate an annual modulation in the event rate similar to what is expected from weakly interacting massive particle interactions. It has been suggested that the CoGeNT modulation may actually be caused by other annually modulating phenomena, specifically the flux of atmospheric muons underground or the radon level in the laboratory. We have compared the phase of the CoGeNT data modulation to that of the concurrent atmospheric muon and radon data collected by the MINOS experiment which occupies an adjac…
We detected the seasonal modulation of the $^7$Be neutrino interaction rate with the Borexino detector at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso in Italy. The period, amplitude, and phase of the observed time evolution of the signal are consistent with its solar origin, and the absence of an annual modulation is rejected at 99.99\% C.L. The data are analyzed using three methods: the sinusoidal fit, the Lomb-Scargle and the Empirical Mode Decomposition techniques, which all yield results in excellent agreement.
The COSINE-100 dark matter search experiment has started taking physics data with the goal of performing an independent measurement of the annual modulation signal observed by DAMA/LIBRA. A muon detector was constructed by using plastic scintillator panels in the outermost layer of the shield surrounding the COSINE-100 detector. It is used to detect cosmic ray muons in order to understand the impact of the muon annual modulation on dark matter analysis. Assembly and initial performance test of each module have been performed at a ground laboratory. The installation of the detector in Yangyang …
A study on cosmic muons has been performed for the two identical near and far neutrino detectors of the Double Chooz experiment, placed at $\sim$120 and $\sim$300 m.w.e. underground respectively, including the corresponding simulations using the MUSIC simulation package. This characterization has allowed to measure the muon flux reaching both detectors to be (3.64 $\pm$ 0.04) $\times$ 10$^{-4}$ cm$^{-2}$s$^{-1}$ for the near detector and (7.00 $\pm$ 0.05) $\times$ 10$^{-5}$ cm$^{-2}$s$^{-1}$ for the far one. The seasonal modulation of the signal has also been studied observing a positive corre…
ANAIS experiment will look for dark matter annual modulation with large mass of ultra-pure NaI(Tl) scintillators at the Canfranc Underground Laboratory (LSC), aiming to confirm the DAMA/LIBRA positive signal in a model-independent way. Two 12.5 kg each NaI(Tl) crystals provided by Alpha Spectra are currently taking data at the LSC. Present status of ANAIS detectors background and general performance is summarized; in particular, thanks to the high light collection efficiency prospects of lowering the threshold down to 1 keVee are reachable. Crystal radiopurity goals are fulfilled for $^{232}$T…
The yields and production rates of the radioisotopes $^9$Li and $^8$He created by cosmic muon spallation on $^{12}$C, have been measured by the two detectors of the Double Chooz experiment. The identical detectors are located at separate sites and depths, which means they are subject to different muon spectra. The near (far) detector has an overburden of $\sim$120 m.w.e. ($\sim$300 m.w.e.) corresponding to a mean muon energy of $32.1\pm2.0\,\mathrm{GeV}$ ($63.7\pm5.5\,\mathrm{GeV}$). Comparing the data to a detailed simulation of the $^9$Li and $^8$He decays, the contribution of the $^8$He rad…