A. Fluka Study of Underground Cosmogenic Neutron Production

Abstract

Neutrons produced by cosmic muon interactions are important contributors to backgrounds in underground detectors when searching for rare events. Typically such neutrons can dominate the background, as they are particularly difficult to shield and detect. Since actual data is sparse and not well documented, simulation studies must be used to design shields and predict background rates. Thus validation of any simulation code is necessary to assure reliable results. This work compares in detail the predictions of the FLUKA simulation code to existing data, and uses this code to report a simulation of cosmogenic backgrounds for typical detectors embedded in a water tank with liquid scintillator shielding.

24 pages, 11 figures - this work draws from and extends arXiv:1210.2708v1 -- minor revisions

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• First Results from the DarkSide-50 Dark Matter Experiment at Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso
• DarkSide-50 532-day Dark Matter Search with Low-Radioactivity Argon
• Results from the first use of low radioactivity argon in a dark matter search
• Radiogenic Neutron Yield Calculations for Low-Background Experiments
• Sensitivity projections for a dual-phase argon TPC optimized for light dark matter searches through the ionization channel
• Muon-induced neutrons do not explain the DAMA data
• Cosmogenic neutron production at Daya Bay
• Neutron flux and spectrum in the Dresden Felsenkeller underground facility studied by moderated ${}^3$He counters
• The Electronics and Data Acquisition System for the DarkSide-50 Veto Detectors
• The Muon-Induced Neutron Indirect Detection EXperiment, MINIDEX
• A Prototype Neutron Veto for Dark Matter Detectors