Production Yield of Muon-Induced Neutrons in Lead
Measured at the Modane Underground Laboratory
Buch in deiner Nähe kaufen
Beschreibung
The work presented in this book is a major step towards understanding and eventually suppressing background in the direct search for dark matter particles scattering off germanium detectors. Although the flux of cosmic muons is reduced by many orders of magnitude in underground laboratories, the remaining energetic muons induce neutrons through various processes, neutrons that can potentially mimic a dark matter signal.This thesis describes the measurement of muon-induced neutrons over more than 3 years in the Modane underground laboratory. The data are complemented by a thorough modeling of the neutron signal using the GEANT4 simulation package, demonstrating the appropriateness of this tool to model these rare processes. As a result, a precise neutron production yield can be presented. Thus, future underground experiments will be able to reliably model the expected rate of muon-induced neutrons, making it possible to develop the necessary shielding concept to suppress this background component.
The work presented in this book is a major step towards understanding and eventually suppressing background in the direct search for dark matter particles scattering off germanium detectors. Although the flux of cosmic muons is reduced by many orders of magnitude in underground laboratories, the remaining energetic muons induce neutrons through various processes, neutrons that can potentially mimic a dark matter signal. This thesis describes the measurement of muon-induced neutrons over more than 3 years in the Modane underground laboratory. The data are complemented by a thorough modeling of the neutron signal using the GEANT4 simulation package, demonstrating the appropriateness of this tool to model these rare processes. As a result, a precise neutron production yield can be presented. Thus, future underground experiments will be able to reliably model the expected rate of muon-induced neutrons, making it possible to develop the necessary shielding concept to suppress this background component.
Nominated as an outstanding Ph. D. thesis by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology Germany Verifies the reliability of the Monte Carlo package Geant4 in simulating the production of muon-induced neutrons Extends the scarce data on the production yield of muon-induced neutrons in lead by a precise and well documented measurement Develops a detailed model of the detector response on muon-induced neutrons for an extensive investigation of systematic uncertainties Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras
Autor*in
Holger Kluck
Themen in »Production Yield of Muon-Induced Neutrons in Lead«
Background for dark matter searches Gadolinium-loaded liquid sintillator Monte Carlo simulation of neutron production with Geant4 Muon flux at deep underground laboratories Muon-induced neutron spallation Muon-induced neutron yield in lead Neutron capture on gadolinium Neutron detection with a deutron multiplicity meter