Simulation of muon-induced backgrounds for the Colorado Underground Research Institute

作者：Dakota K. Keblbeck, Eric William Mayotte, Uwe Greife, K. G. Leach, W. Van De Pontseele, Caitlyn Stone-Whitehead, Luke Wanner, G.J. Wagner · 发表于：Physical review. D/Physical review. D. · 年份：2026 · DOI：10.1103/7n8l-pr2g · 研究领域：Muon and positron interactions and applications、Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies、Particle Detector Development and Performance

We present a comprehensive Monte Carlo simulation of muon-induced backgrounds for the Colorado Underground Research Institute, a shallow-underground facility with ≈ 415 meter water equivalent overburden. Using coupled and 4 frameworks, we characterize the production and transport of muon-induced secondaries through site-specific rock compositions and geometries, establishing a proof of concept for high-precision, end-to-end simulations. Our simulations employ angular-dependent muon energy distributions, which improve secondary flux accuracy. For the Subatomic Particle Hideout and Cryolab I research spaces, we predict total muon-induced neutron fluxes of ( 8.52 ± 1.3 0 sys ) × 10 − 3 m − 2 s − 1 and ( 8.86 ± 1.6 2 sys ) × 10 − 3 m − 2 s − 1 , respectively. Electromagnetic backgrounds are expected to dominate the total flux, with γ -ray components of ( 5.54 ± 0.7 0 sys ) × 10 − 1 m − 2 s − 1 and ( 6.51 ± 1.0 6 sys ) × 10 − 1 m − 2 s − 1 for the Subatomic Particle Hideout and Cryolab I facilities, respectively. Additionally, we develop a depth-intensi...