Muon-induced background in the KATRIN main spectrometer
Name
1-s2.0-S0927650518302597-main.pdf
Size
1.6 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
e4144a7b03aaf007514d79eef3ba1622
Author(s)
Buzinsky, Nicholas Gregory
Formaggio, Joseph A
Sibille, Valerian
Date Issued
March 2019
Journal
Astroparticle Physics
Citation
Altenmüller, K. et al. "Muon-induced background in the KATRIN main spectrometer." Astroparticle Physics 108 (March 2019): 40-49 © 2019 The Authors
Version
Final published version
Abstract
The KArlsruhe TRItium Neutrino (KATRIN) experiment aims to make a model-independent determination of the effective electron antineutrino mass with a sensitivity of 0.2 eV/c 2 . It investigates the kinematics of β-particles from tritium β-decay close to the endpoint of the energy spectrum. Because the KATRIN main spectrometer (MS) is located above ground, muon-induced backgrounds are of particular concern. Coincidence measurements with the MS and a scintillator-based muon detector system confirmed the model of secondary electron production by cosmic-ray muons inside the MS. Correlation measurements with the same setup showed that about 12% of secondary electrons emitted from the inner surface are induced by cosmic-ray muons, with approximately one secondary electron produced for every 17 muon crossings. However, the magnetic and electrostatic shielding of the MS is able to efficiently suppress these electrons, and we find that muons are responsible for less than 17% (90% confidence level) of the overall MS background. Keywords: Cosmic-ray muon backgrounds; Electrostatic spectrometer; Neutrino mass
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Laboratory for Nuclear Science
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.astropartphys.2019.01.003
