Neutron production by cosmic-ray muons at shallow depth

F. Boehm, J. Busenitz, B. Cook, G. Gratta, H. Henrikson, J. Kornis, D. Lawrence, K. B. Lee, K. McKinny, L. Miller, V. Novikov, A. Piepke, B. Ritchie, D. Tracy, P. Vogel, Y. F. Wang, J. Wolf

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

40 Scopus citations

Abstract

The yield of neutrons produced by cosmic ray muons at a shallow depth of 32 meters of water equivalent has been measured. The Palo Verde neutrino detector, containing 11.3 tons of Gd loaded liquid scintillator and 3.5 tons of acrylic, served as a target. The rate of one and two neutron captures was determined. Modeling the neutron capture efficiency allowed us to deduce the total yield of neutrons, Ytot=(3.60±0.09±0.31)×10-5 neutrons per muon and g/cm2. This yield is consistent with previous measurements at similar depths.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number092005
Pages (from-to)1-6
Number of pages6
JournalPhysical Review D - Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology
Volume62
Issue number9
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 1 2000

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)

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