Study of muon-induced neutron production using accelerator muon beam at CERN

Journal Article · Mon Aug 17 00:00:00 EDT 2015 · AIP Conference Proceedings

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4928000· OSTI ID:22488717

Nakajima, Y.; Lin, C. J.; Ochoa-Ricoux, J. P. ^[1]; Draeger, E.; White, C. G. ^[2]; Luk, K. B.; Steiner, H. ^[1]

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1. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California (United States)
2. Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, Illinois (United States)

Cosmogenic muon-induced neutrons are one of the most problematic backgrounds for various underground experiments for rare event searches. In order to accurately understand such backgrounds, experimental data with high-statistics and well-controlled systematics is essential. We performed a test experiment to measure muon-induced neutron production yield and energy spectrum using a high-energy accelerator muon beam at CERN. We successfully observed neutrons from 160 GeV/c muon interaction on lead, and measured kinetic energy distributions for various production angles. Works towards evaluation of absolute neutron production yield is underway. This work also demonstrates that the setup is feasible for a future large-scale experiment for more comprehensive study of muon-induced neutron production.

• OSTI ID: 22488717
• Journal Information: AIP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 1672, Issue 1; Conference: LRT 2015: 5. international workshop in low radioactivity techniques, Seattle, WA (United States), 18-20 Mar 2015; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0094-243X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS
CERN
ENERGY SPECTRA
EVALUATION
KINETIC ENERGY
MUON BEAMS
MUON REACTIONS
MUONS
NEUTRON SPECTRA
NEUTRONS
NUCLEAR REACTION YIELD
PARTICLE PRODUCTION
STATISTICS
UNDERGROUND