Atmospheric muons as an imaging tool Bonechi, Lorenzo; D’Alessandro, Raffaello; Giammanco, Andrea
Reviews in physics,
November 2020, 2020-11-00, 2020-11-01, Volume:
5
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Imaging methods based on the absorption or scattering of atmospheric muons, collectively named under the neologism “muography”, exploit the abundant natural flux of muons produced from cosmic-ray ...interactions in the atmosphere. Recent years have seen a steep rise in the development of muography methods in a variety of innovative multidisciplinary approaches to study the interior of natural or human-made structures, establishing synergies between usually disconnected academic disciplines such as particle physics, geology, and archaeology. Muography also bears promise of immediate societal impact through geotechnical investigations, nuclear waste surveys, homeland security, and natural hazard monitoring. Our aim is to provide an introduction to this vibrant research area, starting from the physical principles at the basis of the methods and describing the main detector technologies and imaging tools, including their combination with conventional techniques from other disciplines, where appropriate. Then, we discuss critically some outstanding issues that affect a broad variety of applications, and the current state of the art in addressing them. Finally, we review several recent developments in the application of muography methods to specific use cases, without any pretence of exhaustiveness.
In this contribution we discuss the calibration and performance of the TOF-Wall detector of the Fragmentation-Of-Target (FOOT) experiment. A thin carbon target was irradiated with carbon ions of ...several energies ranging from 150 to 400 MeV/u. The charge spectra of the produced fragments were used to calibrate the energy response. The energy resolution for a single bar was about 6%. The time resolution between the two layers ranged from 42 (150 MeV/u) to 62 ps (400 MeV/u).
On the 15th of June 2006, the PAMELA (Payload for Antimatter Matter Exploration and Light-nuclei Astrophysics) satellite-borne experiment was launched onboard the Russian Resurs-DK1 satellite by a ...Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur space centre. The satellite was placed in a quasi-polar 70°inclination orbit at an altitude varying between 350 km and 600 km.
New results on the antiparticle component of the cosmic radiation were obtained. The positron energy spectrum and positron fraction were measured from 400 MeV up to 200 GeV revealing a positron excess over the predictions of commonly used propagation models. This can be interpreted either as evidence that the propagation models should be revised or in terms of dark matter annihilation or a pulsar contribution. The antiproton spectrum was measured over the energy range from 60 MeV to 350 GeV. The antiproton spectrum is consistent with secondary production and significantly constrains dark matter models.
The energy spectra of protons and helium nuclei were measured up to 1.2 TV. The spectral shapes of these two species are different and cannot be described well by a single power law. For the first time the electron spectrum was measured up to 600 GeV complementing the information obtained from the positron data. Nuclear and isotopic composition was obtained with unprecedented precision.
The variation of the low energy proton, electron and positron energy spectra was measured from July 2006 until December 2009 accurately sampling the unusual conditions of the most recent solar minimum activity period (2006–2009). Low energy particle spectra were accurately measured also for various solar events that occurred during the PAMELA mission.
The Earth’s magnetosphere was studied measuring the particle radiation in different regions of the magnetosphere. Energy spectra and composition of sub-cutoff and trapped particles were obtained. For the first time a belt of trapped antiprotons was detected in the South Atlantic Anomaly region. The flux was found to exceed that for galactic cosmic-ray antiprotons by three order of magnitude.
This report presents an overview of the unconventional use of charge-coupled devices (CCDs) to search for Dark Matter (DM). The DArk Matter in CCDs (DAMIC Experiment) employs the bulk silicon of ...thick, fully-depleted CCDs as a target for ionization signals produced by interations of particle dark matter from the galactic halo. The DAMIC collaboration has engaged in an extensive campaign of characterization efforts to understand the response of these CCDs to low-energy nuclear recoils and their unique capabilities, including the use of high spatial resolution for both the rejection and study of backgrounds. The preliminary results of DAMIC prove the performance of the detector, provide measurements of the background contamination and demonstrate the potentiality for DM searches, with only ∼40 grams of detector mass. The next phase of the experiment, DAMIC-M (DArk Matter in CCDs at Modane), will consist of a kg-sized detector, implementing the most massive CCDs ever built. These CCDs will feature sub-electron noise and will be deployed in a low-radioactivity environment at the Laboratoire Souterrain de Modane in France.
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