Study of High pT Muons in IceCube
Muons with a high transverse momentum (p{sub T}) are produced in cosmic ray air showers via semileptonic decay of heavy quarks and the decay of high p{sub T} kaons and pions. These high p{sub T} muons have a large lateral separation from the shower core muon bundle. IceCube is well suited for the detection of high p{sub T} muons. The surface shower array can determine the energy, core location and direction of the cosmic ray air shower while the in-ice array can reconstruct the energy and direction of the high p{sub T} muon. This makes it possible to measure the decoherence function (lateral separation spectrum) at distances greater than 150 meters. The muon p{sub T} can be determined from the muon energy (measured by dE/dx) and the lateral separation. The high p{sub T} muon spectrum may also be calculated in a perturbative QCD framework; this spectrum is sensitive to the cosmic-ray composition.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- Nuclear Science Division
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC02-05CH11231
- OSTI ID:
- 962947
- Report Number(s):
- LBNL-2084E; PRLTAO; TRN: US0902978
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review Letter, Journal Name: Physical Review Letter; ISSN 0031-9007
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Characterization of the atmospheric muon flux in IceCube
Cosmic-ray composition and muon decoherence at the knee of the all-particle cosmic-ray spectrum