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Simulating the Cherenkov emission and geomagnetic deflections of muons and muon-induced subshowers from extensive air showers for the EUSO-SPB2 mission
Fuehne, Duncan
Fuehne, Duncan
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2024
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The Extreme Universe Space Observatory on a Super Pressure Balloon II (EUSO-SPB2) was launched on May 13, 2023, from Wanaka, New Zealand, and reached a planned float altitude of 33 km. The Cherenkov Telescope (CT), when pointed above Earth’s limb (650 km away), observed optical Cherenkov signals from above-the-limb extensive air shower (EAS) candidates developing in Earth’s upper atmosphere. The geometry of these above-the-limb EASs is unique in that the CT could potentially observe the Cherenkov signal from the muon component of EASs. The decay length of a 100 GeV muon is approximately 620 km which allows for large deflections in the geomagnetic field. Muons can also decay close to the detector, producing an electron or positron which would initiate an electromagnetic subshower that emits additional Cherenkov light. We present a simulation framework to model the Cherenkov signal produced by muons and their subshowers in near-horizontal EASs. We also include a state-of-the-art geomagnetic field model to accurately simulate muon deflections. We simulated 60 Corsika showers of 10 PeV and 1 EeV primary energies to sample the initial position, energy, and momentum of muons in EASs. Our simulation then propagated muons and their decay products through the atmosphere and modeled their expected Cherenkov signal in the geometry of the CT. We identify characteristics of this signal that distinguish it from the Cherenkov signal made by the electromagnetic component of the primary EAS. Using our simulation package, we also identified muons that were deflected in the geomagnetic field and created subshowers that appeared to arrive from below Earth’s limb. Such subshowers have the potential to be a background to ντ -induced EASs.
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