Is there an enhancement of muons at sea level from transient events?

Abstract

In a recent study of a search for enhancements from the galactic center with muons at sea level using the TUPI muon telescope, we have found several ground level enhancements (GLEs) as very sharp peaks above the count rate background. This paper reports a consistent analysis of two GLEs observed in December 2003 and detected after an up-grade of the data acquisition system, which includes a noise filter and which allows us to verify that the GLEs are not mere background fluctuations. The main target of this study is a search for the origin of the GLEs. The results show that one of them has a strong correlation with a solar flare, while the other has an unknown origin, because there is neither a satellite report of a solar flare, nor prompt X-ray emission, and nor a excess of nuclei during the raster scan where the GLE was observed. Even so, two possibilities are analyzed: the solar flare hypothesis and the gamma ray burst (GRB) hypothesis. We show, by using the FLUKA Monte Carlo results for photo-production, that under certain conditions there is the possibility of an enhancement of muons at sea level from GeV GRBs.

27 pages, 11 ps figures, Accepted in Astrophysical Journal

References in corpus (9)

• The Fourth BATSE Gamma-Ray Burst Catalog (Revised)
• Beaming, Baryon-Loading, and the Synchrotron Self-Compton Component in Gamma-Ray Burst Blast Waves Energized by External Shocks
• Emission Spectra from Internal Shocks in Gamma-Ray-Burst Sources
• Measurement of the flux of atmospheric muons with the CAPRICE94 apparatus
• Search for Sub-TeV Gamma Rays Coincident with BATSE Gamma Ray Bursts
• Gamma-Ray Bursts, Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays, and Cosmic Gamma-Ray Background
• Monte Carlo Study of the Arrival Time Distribution of Particles in Extensive Air Showers in the Energy Range 1--100 TeV
• Spatial and Energy Distribution of Muons in Gamma-induced Air Showers
• Distributions of secondary muons at sea level from cosmic gamma rays below 10 TeV

Cited by in corpus (7)

• Search for muon enhancement at sea level from transient solar activity
• Muon excess at sea level from solar flares in association with the Fermi GBM spacecraft detector
• Signals at ground level of relativistic solar particles associated to the "All Saints" filament eruption on 2014
• Muons enhancements at sea level in association with Swift-BAT and MILAGRO triggers
• Search for a simultaneous signal from small transient events in the Pierre Auger Observatory and the Tupi muon telescopes
• Amplified Doppler shift observed in diffraction images as function of the COBE "ether drift" direction
• Risk assessment of muon single-event effects for low-altitude aircraft