An Electromagnetic Calorimeter for Spectroscopy of TeV Cosmic Rays Muons

Abstract

In principle, the energy of muons from cosmic rays can be deduced from the frequency and the energy of secondary showers, produced by the muons in thick absorber layers. The main interaction processes of high-energy muons leading to observable energy losses are:

• ionization

• pair generation

• bremsstrahlung

• inelastic interactions of muons with nuclei.

The frequent ionization collisions with very small energy transfers produce a localized trail of ionization (“visible” as muon track in charged particle detectors). The Landau distribution of energy losses by ionization has a high-energy tail due to stochastic collisions with large energy transfers. The high-energy knock-on-electrons produce electromagnetic shower cascades.