Analysis of Ultra-High-Energy Muons at INO-ICAL Using Pair-Meter Technique

Abstract

The proposed ICAL detector at India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) is a large-sized underground magnetized iron detector. ICAL is designed to reconstruct muon momentum using magnetic spectrometers as detectors. Muon energy measurements using magnets fail for high-energy muons (TeV range), since the angular deflection of the muon in the magnetic field is negligible and the muon tracks become nearly straight. A new technique for measuring the energy of muons in the TeV range used by the CCFR[1] neutrino detector is known as the pair-meter technique. This technique estimates muon energy by measuring the energy deposited by the muon in several layers of an iron calorimeter through e+ and e- pair production. In this work, we have performed Geant4-based preliminary analysis for iron plates and have demonstrated the feasibility of detection of very high-energy muons (1–1000TeV) at the underground ICAL detector operating as a pair-meter. This wide range of energy spectrum will not only be helpful for studying the cosmic rays in the Knee region but also aid in understanding the atmospheric neutrino flux for the running and upcoming ultra-high-energy atmospheric neutrino experiments.