Observation of muon intensity variations by season with the MINOS far detector

The temperature of the upper atmosphere affects the height of primary cosmic ray interactions and the production of high-energy cosmic ray muons which can be detected deep underground. The MINOS far detector at Soudan, MN, has collected over 67×106 cosmic ray induced muons. The underground muon rate measured over a period of five years exhibits a 4% peak-to-peak seasonal variation which is highly correlated with the temperature in the upper atmosphere. The coefficient, αT, relating changes in the muon rate to changes in atmospheric temperature was found to be αT=0.873±0.009(stat)±0.010(syst). Pions and kaons in the primary hadronic interactions of cosmic rays in the atmosphere contribute differently to αT due to the different masses and lifetimes. This allows the measured value of αT to be interpreted as a measurement of the K/π ratio for Ep≳7TeV of 0.12-0.05+0.07, consistent with the expectation from collider experiments.

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Source ISSN: 2470-0010
Author Adamson, P., Andreopoulos, C., Arms, K. E., Armstrong, R., Auty, D. J., Ayres, D. S., Backhouse, C., Barnett, J., Barr, G., Barrett, W. L., Becker, B. R., Bishai, M., Blake, A., Bock, B., Bock, G. J., Boehnlein, D. J., Bogert, D., Bower, C., Cavanaugh, S., Chapman, J. D., Cherdack, D., Childress, S., Choudhary, B. C., Cobb, J. H., Coleman, S. J., Cronin-Hennessy, D., Culling, A. J., Danko, I. Z., de Jong, J. K., Devenish, N. E., Diwan, M. V., Dorman, M., Escobar, C. O., Evans, J. J., Falk, E., Feldman, G. J., Fields, T. H., Frohne, M. V., Gallagher, H. R., Godley, A., Goodman, M. C., Gouffon, P., Gran, R., Grashorn, E. W., Grzelak, K., Habig, A., Harris, D., Harris, P. G., Hartnell, J., Hatcher, R., Heller, K., Himmel, A., Holin, A., Hylen, J., Irwin, G. M., Isvan, Z., Jaffe, D. E., James, C., Jensen, D., Kafka, T., Kasahara, S. M. S., Koizumi, G., Kopp, S., Kordosky, M., Korman, K., Koskinen, D. J., Krahn, Z., Kreymer, A., Lang, K., Ling, J., Litchfield, P. J., Loiacono, L., Lucas, Philippe, Ma, J., Mann, W. A., Marshak, M. L., Marshall, J. S., Mayer, N., Mcgowan, A. M., Mehdiyev, R., Meier, J. R., Messier, M. D., Metelko, C. J., Michael, D. G., Miller, W. H., Mishra, S. R., Mitchell, J., Moore, C. D., Morfín, J., Mualem, L., Mufson, S., Musser, J., Naples, D., Nelson, J. K., Newman, H. B., Nichol, R. J., Nicholls, T. C., Ochoa-Ricoux, J. P., Oliver, W. P., Osiecki, T., Ospanov, R., Osprey, S., Paley, J., Patterson, R. B., Patzak, T., Pawloski, G., Pearce, G. F., Peterson, E. A., Pittam, R., Plunkett, R. K., Rahaman, A., Rameika, R. A., Raufer, T. M., Rebel, B., Reichenbacher, J., Rodrigues, P. A., Rosenfeld, C., Rubin, H. A., Ryabov, V. A., Sanchez, M. C., Saoulidou, N., Schneps, J., Schreiner, P., Shanahan, P., Smart, W., Smith, C., Sousa, A., Speakman, B., Stamoulis, P., Strait, M., Tagg, N., Talaga, R. L., Thomas, J., Thomson, M. A., Thron, J. L., Tinti, G., Toner, R., Tsarev, V. A., Tzanakos, G., Urheim, J., Vahle, P., Viren, B., Watabe, M., Weber, A., Webb, R. C., West, N., White, C., Whitehead, L., Wojcicki, S. G., Wright, D. M., Yang, T., Zois, M., Zhang, K., Zwaska, R.
Maintainer CCSD
Last Updated May 16, 2026, 01:47 (UTC)
Created May 16, 2026, 01:47 (UTC)
Identifier in2p3-00704723
Language en
contributor APC - Neutrinos ; Laboratoire de Physique Nucléaire et de Hautes Énergies (LPNHE) ; Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-AstroParticule et Cosmologie (APC (UMR_7164)) ; Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Observatoire de Paris ; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Observatoire de Paris ; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
creator Adamson, P.
date 2010-01-16T00:00:00
harvest_object_id bc5a1ae1-0653-46e4-a518-3b3f2772e531
harvest_source_id 3374d638-d20b-4672-ba96-a23232d55657
harvest_source_title test moissonnage SELUNE
metadata_modified 2025-01-22T00:00:00
relation info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/arxiv/0909.4012
set_spec type:ART