학술논문

Flux modulations seen by the muon veto of the GERDA experiment
Document Type
article
Source
Subject
Water cherenkov detector
Underground experiment
Cosmic rays
Muon interaction
physics.ins-det
hep-ex
Nuclear & Particles Physics
Astronomical and Space Sciences
Atomic
Molecular
Nuclear
Particle and Plasma Physics
Language
Abstract
The GERDA experiment at LNGS of INFN is equipped with an active muon veto. The main part of the system is a water Cherenkov veto with 66 PMTs in the water tank surrounding the GERDA cryostat. The muon flux recorded by this veto shows a seasonal modulation. Two causes have been identified: (i) secondary muons from the CNGS neutrino beam (2.2%) and (ii) a temperature modulation of the atmosphere (1.4%). A mean cosmic muon rate of Iμ0=(3.477±0.002stat±0.067sys)×10−4/(s · m2) was found in good agreement with other experiments at LNGS. Combining the present result with those from previous experiments at LNGS the effective temperature coefficient αT,Lngs is determined to 0.93 ± 0.03. A fit of the temperature coefficients measured at various underground sites yields a kaon to pion ratio rK/π of 0.10 ± 0.03.