Abstract
In this work, we use muon bundles, which are formed in extensive air showers and detected at the ground level, as a tool for searching for anisotropy in high-energy cosmic rays. Such choice ...is explained by the penetrating ability of muons that allows them to retain the direction of primary particles with good accuracy. In 2012–2022, we performed long-term muon-bundle detection with the coordinate-tracking detector DECOR, which is a part of the Experimental Complex NEVOD (MEPhI, Moscow). To search for cosmic-ray anisotropy, muon bundles arriving at zenith angles in the range from 15° to 75° in the local coordinate system are used. During the entire period of data taking, about 14 million of such events have been accumulated. In this paper, we describe some methods developed in the Experimental Complex NEVOD and implemented in our research, including: the method for compensating for the influence of meteorological conditions on the intensity of muon bundles at the Earth’s surface, the method for accounting for the design features of the detector and the inhomogeneity of the detection efficiency for different directions, as well as the method for estimating the primary energies of cosmic rays. Here we present the results of the search for the dipole anisotropy of cosmic rays with energies in the PeV region and also compare them with the results obtained at other scientific facilities.
We present physical motivations and advantages of the new gamma-observatory TAIGA (Tunka Advanced Instrument for cosmic ray physics and gamma-ray astronomy). TAIGA will be located in the Tunka ...valley, 50km to the west of Lake Baikal, at the same place as the integrating air Cherenkov detector for cosmic rays Tunka-133. The TAIGA array is a complex, hybrid detector for ground-based gamma-ray astronomy for energies from a few TeV to several PeV as well as for cosmic ray studies from 100TeV to several EeV. The array will consist of a wide angle Cherenkov array – TAIGA-HiSCORE with 5km2 area, a net of 16 IACT telescopes (with FOV of about 9.72°×9.72°) as well as muon and other detectors. We present the current status of the array construction.
Muon Tomography of Large-Scale Objects Yashin, I. I.; Davidenko, N. N.; Dovgopoly, A. O. ...
Physics of atomic nuclei,
11/2021, Letnik:
84, Številka:
6
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Cosmic ray muons arriving from the upper hemisphere to the Earth’s surface, are currently used to develop methods of muonography (analogous to radiography) of the internal structure of large-scale ...objects and relief, such as volcanoes, blast furnaces, nuclear reactors, etc. The article discusses various aspects, methods and specific examples of penetrating muonography, in particular, as applied to the study of the structure of nuclear reactors.
A hybrid muon hodoscope for muonography of large-scale objects has been created in the Scientific and Educational Centre NEVOD (MEPhI) with the participation of the National Research Center ...“KI”–IHEP. The multichannel detecting system of the hodoscope consists of a scintillation strip detector and a detector on drift tubes and is designed to detect tracks of charged particles, mainly muons, flying through the detector volume. The drift tube detector is an important recording element of the muon hodoscope, providing high angular and spatial accuracy of muon track reconstruction. The article describes the design of the drift tube detector, the principles of operation of the readout electronics, and also provides the main technical characteristics.
The paper is devoted to the development of a new summator-multiplexor (SM) for the block of electronics of the cluster of detector stations (BECDS) of the NEVOD-EAS air-shower array. The new ...summator-multiplexor is designed to replace the currently used SMs based on CAEN N169 units. The developed basic circuit diagram and the operation principle of the new SM are described. The results of testing of a prototype of the new summator-multiplexor for the BECDS of the NEVOD-EAS array are discussed.
NEVOD-DECOR is the unique experiment where systematic studies of cosmic ray muon bundles in a wide range of zenith angles and, accordingly, the energies of primary cosmic rays are carried out. ...Impressive experimental material (more than 100 thousand events) has been accumulated over a long time period from May 2012 to December 2022. The earlier developed method of local muon density spectra allows us to compare experimental data on muon bundles with the results of the EAS muon component simulations. The analysis showed that the observed intensity of muon bundles at primary cosmic ray energies of about 1 EeV and higher can be compatible with the expectation (in frame of widely used hadronic interaction models) only under the assumption of an extremely heavy mass composition. It is consistent with data of several other experiments on investigations of air shower muon content, but contradicts the available measurements of the depth of the shower maximum in the atmosphere by means of fluorescent technique, which favor a light mass composition at these energies. This probably leads to the need to revise the existing hadronic interaction models.
Data of NEVOD-DECOR experiment on investigations of inclined cosmic ray muon bundles for a long time period (May 2012 - May 2020) are presented. Their comparison with the results of calculations ...based on simulations of extensive air shower hadron and muon components is carried out. The analysis showed that the observed intensity of muon bundles at primary particle energies of about 1018 eV and higher can be compatible with the expectation only under the assumption of an extremely heavy mass composition of cosmic rays. On the contrary, measurements of the depth of the shower maximum in the atmosphere in the experiments using air fluorescence technique, favour a light mass composition of primary cosmic rays at these energies.
Results are presented from measuring the energy characteristics of muon bundles in inclined extensive air showers in the NEVOD-DECOR experiment. Estimates of the average energy of muons in the ...bundles are obtained in the 10 to 1000 PeV range of primary particle energies and compared to values calculated under different assumptions about the composition of cosmic radiation and models of hadronic interactions. An excess of experimental values of the average muon energy relative to calculations is found for high local densities corresponding to primary particle energies above 100 PeV.
In November 2020, the IceCube Neutrino Observatory registered a neutrino event with an energy of 150 TeV directed at the Cygnus Cocoon gamma-ray source. In the Carpet-2 experiment, as part of the ...Baksan Neutrino Observatory (BNO), a sharp increase in the flow of events with an energy above 300 TeV was recorded from the same direction within the angular accuracy of the events. This flux is 4 orders of magnitude higher than the expected intensity of gamma quanta of this energy region according to data in the region of less than 100 TeV. It was expected that such a powerful flare could be registered by the TAIGA-HiSCORE installation of the TAIGA astrophysical complex. We analyzed the events of the EAS recorded by the installation of TAIGA-HiSCORE for 18 h in October–November 2020 from the Cygnus Cocoon source. This article provides the upper limit of the expected excess flow.
The status of the TAIGA experiment (Tunka Advanced Instrument for cosmic-ray physics and Gamma-ray Astronomy) located in the Tunka Valley is presented. The paper presents mainly the tasks, developed ...approaches for their solution, and first results on high-energy gamma-ray astronomy (10 TeV and higher) obtained from a two- to three-year exposure. The current tasks of gamma-ray astronomy and plans for development of the installation are discussed.