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Observing muon decays in water Cherenkov detectors at the Pierre Auger Observatory

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 نشر من قبل Nicolas Busca
 تاريخ النشر 2005
  مجال البحث فيزياء
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Muons decaying in the water volume of a Cherenkov detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory provide a useful calibration point at low energy. Using the digitized waveform continuously recorded by the electronics of each tank, we have devised a simple method to extract the charge spectrum of the Michel electrons, whose typical signal is about 1/8 of a crossing vertical muon. This procedure, moreover, allows continuous monitoring of the detector operation and of its water level. We have checked the procedure with high statistics on a test tank at the Observatory base and applied with success on the whole array.



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