Flux of atmospheric muons: Comparison between AIRES simulations and CAPRICE98 data

Abstract

We report on a comparison between the flux of muons in the atmosphere measured by the CAPRICE98 experiment and simulations performed with the air shower simulation program AIRES. To reduce systematic uncertainties we have used as input the primary fluxes of protons and helium nuclei also measured by the CAPRICE98 experiment. Heavy nuclei are also taken into account in the primary flux, and their contribution to the muon flux is discussed. The results of the simulations show a very good agreement with the experimental data, at all altitudes and for all muon momenta. With the exception of a few isolated points, the relative differences between measured data and simulations are smaller than 20 %; and in all cases compatible with zero within two standard deviations. The influence of the input cosmic ray flux on the results of the simulations is also discussed. This report includes also an extensive analysis of the characteristics of the simulated fluxes.

arXiv commentAccepted for publication in Physical Review D

References in corpus (10)

• Tau Neutrinos in the Auger Observatory : A New Window to UHECR Sources
• Extensive Air Shower Simulations at the Highest Energies
• The Cosmic-Ray Proton and Helium Spectra measured with the CAPRICE98 balloon experiment
• Simulation of Atmospheric Muon and Neutrino Fluxes with CORSIKA
• Measurement of the flux of atmospheric muons with the CAPRICE94 apparatus
• Hadronic interactions models beyond collider energies
• Influence of the LPM effect and dielectric suppression on particle air showers
• Comparison of the FLUKA calculations with CAPRICE94 data on muons in atmosphere
• Air Showers and Geomagnetic Field
• Extended Air Showers and Muon Interactions

Cited by in corpus (5)

• Muon Flux Measurements at the Davis Campus of the Sanford Underground Research Facility with the Majorana Demonstrator Veto System
• Hunting long-lived gluinos at the Pierre Auger Observatory
• The influence of the geomagnetic field and of the uncertainties in the primary spectrum on the development of the muon flux in the atmosphere
• Cosmogenic Muon Background Characterization for the Colorado Underground Research Institute (CURIE)
• On the deficit of calculated muon flux at sea level for energies $>100$ GeV