Measurement of the momentum spectrum of cosmic ray muons at a depth of 320 mwe [Elektronische Ressource] / vorgelegt von Nadir Omar Hashim

Measurement of the MomentumSpectrum of Cosmic Ray Muonsat a depth of 320 mweDISSERTATIONzur Erlangung des akademischen Grades einesDoktors der Naturwissenschaftenvorgelegt vonM.Sc. Nadir Omar Hashimaus Mombasa-Keniagenehmigt vom Fachbereich Physikder Universit¨at SiegenSiegen Juni 2007Gutachter der Dissertation: Prof. Dr. Claus GrupenSiegen University, SiegenProf. Dr. Michael SchmellingMax-Planck-Institute for Nuclear PhysicsHeidelbergTag der mundlic¨ hen Prufung:¨ 22.06.2007iTo my familyAbstractCosmic ray muons are produced through interactions of primarycosmic radiation in the atmosphere. They are a component of ex-tensive air showers which can also be measured underground. TheCosmoALEPH experiment used the ALEPH detector at the Eu-ropean Centre for Particle Physics, CERN, to measure cosmic raymuon events at a depth of 320 mwe underground. Measurementsof the momentum spectrum and charge ratio of the cosmic raymuons are presented in this work. The results are compared withthe expectations from MC simulations based on different hadronicinteraction models.Contents1 Introduction 11.1 Cosmic Radiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.2 ray Muons in ALEPH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Cosmic Ray Particles 62.1 Primary and Secondary Cosmic Radiation . . . . . . . . . . . . 62.2 The Cosmic Ray Energy Spectrum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72.3 Cosmic Ray Muons in the Atmosphere . . . . . . . . . . . . . .