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A muon-track reconstruction exploiting stochastic losses for large-scale Cherenkov detectors

Abbasi, R.; Ackermann, M.; Adams, J.; Aguilar, J. A.; Ahlers, M.; Ahrens, M.; Alispach, C.; Alves, A. A., Jr.; Amin, N. M.; An, R.; Andeen, K.; Anderson, T.; Ansseau, I.; Anton, G.; Argüelles, C.; Axani, S.; Bai, X.; Balagopal V., A.; Barbano, A.; ... mehr

Abstract:

IceCube is a cubic-kilometer Cherenkov telescope operating at the South Pole. The main goal of IceCube is the detection of astrophysical neutrinos and the identification of their sources. High-energy muon neutrinos are observed via the secondary muons produced in charge current interactions with nuclei in the ice. Currently, the best performing muon track directional reconstruction is based on a maximum likelihood method using the arrival time distribution of Cherenkov photons registered by the experiment's photomultipliers. A known systematic shortcoming of the prevailing method is to assume a continuous energy loss along the muon track. However at energies >1 TeV the light yield from muons is dominated by stochastic showers. This paper discusses a generalized ansatz where the expected arrival time distribution is parametrized by a stochastic muon energy loss pattern. This more realistic parametrization of the loss profile leads to an improvement of the muon angular resolution of up to 20% for through-going tracks and up to a factor 2 for starting tracks over existing algorithms. Additionally, the procedure to estimate the directional reconstruction uncertainty has been improved to be more robust against numerical errors.


Verlagsausgabe §
DOI: 10.5445/IR/1000139530
Originalveröffentlichung
DOI: 10.1088/1748-0221/16/08/P08034
Scopus
Zitationen: 12
Dimensions
Zitationen: 12
Cover der Publikation
Zugehörige Institution(en) am KIT Institut für Astroteilchenphysik (IAP)
Publikationstyp Zeitschriftenaufsatz
Publikationsmonat/-jahr 08.2021
Sprache Englisch
Identifikator ISSN: 1748-0221
KITopen-ID: 1000139530
HGF-Programm 51.13.04 (POF IV, LK 01) Kosmische Strahlung Technologien
Erschienen in Journal of Instrumentation
Verlag Institute of Physics Publishing Ltd (IOP Publishing Ltd)
Band 16
Heft 08
Seiten Art. Nr.: P08034
Vorab online veröffentlicht am 12.08.2021
Schlagwörter Cherenkov detectors; Neutrino detectors; Data analysis
Nachgewiesen in Scopus
Dimensions
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