Measurement of the cosmic ray muon flux seasonal variation with the OPERA detector

N. Agafonova , A. Alexandrov , A. Anokhina , S. Aoki , A. Ariga , T. Ariga , A. Bertolin , C. Bozza , R. Brugnera , A. Buonaura , S. Buontempo , M. Chernyavskiy , A. Chukanov , L. Consiglio , N. d'Ambrosio , G. de Lellis , M. de Serio , P. del Amo Sanchez (1) , A. Di Crescenzo , D. Di Ferdinando , N. Di Marco , S. Dmitrievsky , M. Dracos (2) , D. Duchesneau (1) , S. Dusini , T. Dzhatdoev , J. Ebert , A. Ereditato , R.A. Fini , F. Fornari , T. Fukuda , G. Galati , A. Garfagnini , V. Gentile , J. Goldberg , S. Gorbunov , Y. Gornushkin , G. Grella , A.M. Guler , C. Gustavino , C. Hagner , T. Hara , T. Hayakawa , A. Hollnagel , K. Ishiguro , A. Iuliano , K. Jakovčić , C. Jollet (2) , C. Kamiscioglu , M. Kamiscioglu , S.H. Kim , N. Kitagawa , B. Kliček , K. Kodama , M. Komatsu , U. Kose , I. Kreslo , F. Laudisio , A. Lauria , A. Ljubičić , A. Longhin , P. Loverre , A. Malgin , G. Mandrioli , T. Matsuo , V. Matveev , N. Mauri , E. Medinaceli , A. Meregaglia (2) , S. Mikado , M. Miyanishi , F. Mizutani , P. Monacelli , M.C. Montesi , K. Morishima , M.T. Muciaccia , N. Naganawa , T. Naka , M. Nakamura , T. Nakano , K. Niwa , S. Ogawa , N. Okateva , K. Ozaki , A. Paoloni , L. Paparella , B.D. Park , L. Pasqualini , A. Pastore , L. Patrizii , H. Pessard (1) , D. Podgrudkov , N. Polukhina , M. Pozzato , F. Pupilli , M. Roda , T. Roganova , H. Rokujo , G. Rosa , O. Ryazhskaya , O. Sato , A. Schembri , I. Shakiryanova , T. Shchedrina , E. Shibayama , H. Shibuya , T. Shiraishi , S. Simone , C. Sirignano , G. Sirri , A. Sotnikov , M. Spinetti , L. Stanco , N. Starkov , S.M. Stellacci , M. Stipčević , P. Strolin , S. Takahashi , M. Tenti , F. Terranova , V. Tioukov , S. Vasina , P. Vilain , E. Voevodina , L. Votano , J.L. Vuilleumier , G. Wilquet , C.S. Yoon

1 LAPP - Laboratoire d'Annecy de Physique des Particules
2 IPHC - Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien

The OPERA experiment discovered muon neutrino into tau neutrino oscillations in appearance mode, detecting tau leptons by means of nuclear emulsion films. The apparatus was also endowed with electronic detectors with tracking capability, such as scintillator strips and resistive plate chambers. Because of its location in the underground Gran Sasso laboratory, under 3800 m.w.e., the OPERA detector has also been used as an observatory for TeV muons produced by cosmic rays in the atmosphere. In this paper the measurement of the single muon flux modulation and its correlation with the seasonal cycle of atmospheric temperature is reported.

Mots clés: cosmic rays detectors; neutrino detectors; neutrino experiments; neutrino/mu: secondary beam; muon: flux; muon: cosmic radiation; atmosphere: temperature; neutrino: oscillation; neutrino/tau: particle identification; OPERA; resistive plate chamber; scintillation counter; nuclear emulsion; observatory; correlation; modulation; Gran Sasso; experimental results

Domaines: Physique des Hautes Energies - Expérience [hep-ex]; Instrumentations et Détecteurs [physics.ins-det]

N. Agafonova, A. Alexandrov, A. Anokhina, S. Aoki, A. Ariga, et al.. Measurement of the cosmic ray muon flux seasonal variation with the OPERA detector. JCAP, 2019, 10, pp.003. ⟨10.1088/1475-7516/2019/10/003⟩. ⟨hal-01914525⟩