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Measurement of the cosmic muon flux at the Stawell Underground Physics Laboratory

G. Fu, M. Mews, F. Scutti, P. Urquijo, E. Barberio, V. Bashu, L. J. Bignell, I. Bolognino, A. Cools, F. Dastgiri, A. R. Duffy, L. Einfalt, M. Froehlich, T. Fruth, M. Gerathy, M. Hancock, R. James, S. Kapoor, S. Krishnan, G. J. Lane, K. T. Leaver, D. Marcantonio, P. McGee, J. McKenzie, L. McKie, M. A. McLean, P. C. McNamara, L. J. Milligan, K. J. Rule, Z. Slavkovska, O. Stanley, A. E. Stuchbery, B. Suerfu, G. N. Taylor, E. van der Velden, A. G. Williams, Y. Xing, Y. Y. Zhong

Abstract

We report the first measurement of the underground cosmic muon flux at the Stawell Underground Physics Laboratory. The measurement uses eight EJ200 plastic scintillator panels, equipped with Hamamatsu R13089 PMT pairs at the ends, which are the primary components of the muon veto system for the upcoming SABRE South experiment. The measured muon flux is f = (6.33 +/- 0.04_stat +/- 0.35_sys) x 10^{-8} [s^{-1} cm^{-2}]. This measurement is in excellent agreement with simulations, with a relative uncertainty an order of magnitude smaller than the modelling uncertainty.

Measurement of the cosmic muon flux at the Stawell Underground Physics Laboratory

Abstract

We report the first measurement of the underground cosmic muon flux at the Stawell Underground Physics Laboratory. The measurement uses eight EJ200 plastic scintillator panels, equipped with Hamamatsu R13089 PMT pairs at the ends, which are the primary components of the muon veto system for the upcoming SABRE South experiment. The measured muon flux is f = (6.33 +/- 0.04_stat +/- 0.35_sys) x 10^{-8} [s^{-1} cm^{-2}]. This measurement is in excellent agreement with simulations, with a relative uncertainty an order of magnitude smaller than the modelling uncertainty.
Paper Structure (16 sections, 8 equations, 21 figures, 4 tables)

This paper contains 16 sections, 8 equations, 21 figures, 4 tables.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Detector setup and data acquisition
  3. Muon detector setup
  4. Environmental monitoring
  5. Data acquisition campaigns
  6. Event selection
  7. Detector Performance
  8. Muon detection efficiency
  9. Detection efficiency systematic uncertainty
  10. Geometric acceptance
  11. Geometric acceptance systematic uncertainty
  12. Edge effect uncertainty
  13. Material density uncertainty
  14. Telescope orientation uncertainty
  15. Measurement of the muon flux
  16. ...and 1 more sections

Figures (21)

  • Figure 1: Assembly of a muon detector panel from the SABRE South muon detector veto system. The picture is provided by Eljen Technology Eljen.
  • Figure 2: Muon scintillator panel under test in the above-ground laboratory at the University of Melbourne.
  • Figure 3: (a) The muon detector configuration at SUPL for the muon flux measurements. Eight muon detector panels are deployed in two layers and two orientations. (b) A diagram of the muon telescope configuration for the muon flux measurement.
  • Figure 4: Temperature (top), pressure (middle), and vibration trigger rate (bottom) data monitored by the SABRE South slow control system.
  • Figure 5: Trigger rate as a function of time. The three data acquisition phases, corresponding to different configurations of the PMT voltage settings, are represented by the colored intervals. PMT current trips, where the overcurrent threshold of the HV board is surpassed, result in sudden reductions in the trigger rate.
  • ...and 16 more figures