https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-024-13018-8
Regular Article - Experimental Physics
Atmospheric muons measured with the KM3NeT detectors in comparison with updated numeric predictions
1
INFN, Sezione di Catania, (INFN-CT), Via Santa Sofia 64, 95123, Catania, Italy
2
Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, IPHC UMR 7178, 67000, Strasbourg, France
3
Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS/IN2P3, CPPM, Marseille, France
4
University of Sharjah, Sharjah Academy for Astronomy, Space Sciences, and Technology, POB 27272, University Campus, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
5
IFIC-Instituto de Física Corpuscular (CSIC-Universitat de València), c/Catedrático José Beltrán, 2, 46980, Paterna, Valencia, Spain
6
INFN, Sezione di Napoli, Complesso Universitario di Monte S. Angelo, Via Cintia ed. G, 80126, Naples, Italy
7
Dip. Scienze Fisiche “E. Pancini”, Complesso Universitario di Monte S. Angelo, Università di Napoli “Federico II”, Via Cintia ed. G, 80126, Naples, Italy
8
INFN, Sezione di Roma, Piazzale Aldo Moro 2, 00185, Rome, Italy
9
Laboratori d’Aplicacions Bioacústiques, Centre Tecnològic de Vilanova i la Geltrú, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Avda. Rambla Exposició, s/n, 08800, Vilanova i la Geltrú, Spain
10
NCSR Demokritos, Institute of Nuclear and Particle Physics, Ag. Paraskevi Attikis, 15310, Athens, Greece
11
Dept. of Computer Architecture and Technology/CITIC, University of Granada, 18071, Granada, Spain
12
Subatech, IMT Atlantique, IN2P3-CNRS, Nantes Université, BP 20722 44307, 4 rue Alfred Kastler-La Chantrerie, Nantes, France
13
Instituto de Investigación para la Gestión Integrada de las Zonas Costeras, Universitat Politècnica de València, C/ Paranimf, 1, 46730, Gandia, Spain
14
Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Erlangen Centre for Astroparticle Physics, Nikolaus-Fiebiger-Straße 2, 91058, Erlangen, Germany
15
University Mohammed V in Rabat, Faculty of Sciences, B.P. 1014, 4 av. Ibn Battouta, R.P. 10000, Rabat, Morocco
16
Université Paris Cité, CNRS, Astroparticule et Cosmologie, 75013, Paris, France
17
INFN, Sezione di Genova, Via Dodecaneso 33, 16146, Genoa, Italy
18
LPC CAEN, Normandie Univ, ENSICAEN, UNICAEN, CNRS/IN2P3, 6 boulevard Maréchal Juin, 14050, Caen, France
19
Institute of Experimental and Applied Physics, Czech Technical University in Prague, Husova 240/5, 110 00, Prague, Czech Republic
20
Department of Nuclear Physics and Biophysics, Comenius University in Bratislava, Mlynska dolina F1, 842 48, Bratislava, Slovak Republic
21
Nikhef, National Institute for Subatomic Physics, PO Box 41882, 1009 DB, Amsterdam, Netherlands
22
INFN, Sezione di Bologna, v.le C. Berti-Pichat, 6/2, 40127, Bologna, Italy
23
Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Università di Bologna, v.le C. Berti-Pichat, 6/2, 40127, Bologna, Italy
24
Dipartimento di Matematica e Fisica, Università degli Studi della Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, viale Lincoln 5, 81100, Caserta, Italy
25
E. A. Milne Centre for Astrophysics, University of Hull, HU6 7RX, Hull, UK
26
INFN, Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, (LNS) Via S. Sofia 62, 95123, Catania, Italy
27
Centre for Space Research, North-West University, Private Bag X6001, 2520, Potchefstroom, South Africa
28
Faculty of Sciences, BV Mohammed VI, University Mohammed I, B.P. 717, R.P. 60000, Oujda, Morocco
29
Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Salerno e INFN Gruppo Collegato di Salerno, Via Giovanni Paolo II 132, 84084, Fisciano, Italy
30
ISS, Atomistilor 409, 077125, Măgurele, Romania
31
Institute of Physics/IHEF, University of Amsterdam, PO Box 94216, 1090 GE, Amsterdam, Netherlands
32
TNO, Technical Sciences, PO Box 155, 2600 AD, Delft, Netherlands
33
Dipartimento di Fisica, Università La Sapienza, Piazzale Aldo Moro 2, 00185, Rome, Italy
34
Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell’Energia Elettrica e dell’Informazione ”Guglielmo Marconi”, Università di Bologna, Via dell’Università 50, 47521, Cesena, Italy
35
Physics Department, Faculty of Science Semlalia, Cadi Ayyad University, P.O.B. 2390, Av. My Abdellah, 40000, Marrakech, Morocco
36
School of Physics, University of the Witwatersrand, Wits, Private Bag 3, 2050, Johannesburg, South Africa
37
Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia “Ettore Majorana”, Università di Catania (INFN-CT), Via Santa Sofia 64, 95123, Catania, Italy
38
INFN, Sezione di Bari, via Orabona, 4, 70125, Bari, Italy
39
School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematics, Western Sydney University, Locked Bag 1797, 2751, Penrith, NSW, Australia
40
Università di Genova, Via Dodecaneso 33, 16146, Genoa, Italy
41
Dpto. de Física Teórica y del Cosmos & C.A.F.P.E., University of Granada, 18071, Granada, Spain
42
NIOZ (Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research), PO Box 59, Den Burg, 1790 AB, Texel, The Netherlands
43
Leiden Institute of Physics, Leiden University, PO Box 9504, 2300 RA, Leiden, Netherlands
44
Department of Physics, Tbilisi State University, 3, Chavchavadze Ave., 0179, Tbilisi, Georgia
45
Institute of Physics, The University of Georgia, Kostava str. 77, 0171, Tbilisi, Georgia
46
Institut Universitaire de France, 1 rue Descartes, 75005, Paris, France
47
Department Physics, University of Johannesburg, PO Box 524, 2006, Auckland Park, South Africa
48
Laboratoire Univers et Particules de Montpellier, Place Eugène Bataillon-CC 72, 34095, Montpellier Cédex 05, France
49
Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Remeis Sternwarte, Sternwartstraße 7, 96049, Bamberg, Germany
50
Université de Haute Alsace, rue des Frères Lumière, 68093, Mulhouse Cedex, France
51
Fakultät für Physik und Astronomie, Institut für Theoretische Physik und Astrophysik, Lehrstuhl für Astronomie, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Emil-Fischer-Straße 31, 97074, Würzburg, Germany
52
AstroCeNT, Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center, Polish Academy of Sciences, Rektorska 4, 00-614, Warsaw, Poland
fg
vladimir.kulikovskiy@ge.infn.it
jp
aromanov@km3net.de
Received:
18
March
2024
Accepted:
11
June
2024
Published online:
15
July
2024
The measurement of the flux of muons produced in cosmic ray air showers is essential for the study of primary cosmic rays. Such measurements are important in extensive air shower detectors to assess the energy spectrum and the chemical composition of the cosmic ray flux, complementary to the information provided by fluorescence detectors. Detailed simulations of the cosmic ray air showers are carried out, using codes such as CORSIKA, to estimate the muon flux at sea level. These simulations are based on the choice of hadronic interaction models, for which improvements have been implemented in the post-LHC era. In this work, a deficit in simulations that use state-of-the-art QCD models with respect to the measurement deep underwater with the KM3NeT neutrino detectors is reported. The KM3NeT/ARCA and KM3NeT/ORCA neutrino telescopes are sensitive to TeV muons originating mostly from primary cosmic rays with energies around 10 TeV. The predictions of state-of-the-art QCD models show that the deficit with respect to the data is constant in zenith angle; no dependency on the water overburden is observed. The observed deficit at a depth of several kilometres is compatible with the deficit seen in the comparison of the simulations and measurements at sea level.
© The Author(s) 2024
Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Funded by SCOAP3.
