2022 Abstract from Sri and Serena

Upward Muon Search Project

Students: Serena Garza and Sri Gaddam 

Scientist Mentor: Mark Adams UIC/CRMD

Our experiment focused on the process of developing a new QuarkNet analysis program to search for upward-going muons. Cosmic rays are high-energy nuclei accelerated in extreme conditions that collide with the Earth’s atmosphere. The collision eventually produces muons, which travel toward the surface of the Earth at nearly the speed of light. Possible sources of upward-going muons are neutrinos scattering through the Earth or cosmic ray showers near the horizon. We used a ten-day data run from a four-channel telescope detector at Fermilab. Using the cosmic ray e-Lab, we studied the rate and lifetime of cosmic ray muons and developed a new analysis program with Jupyter Notebook. Using time of flight between detectors we defined the signal region. Our first analysis has reduced the background to 27 upward candidates from 114,000 muons. Our program will be accessible to all QuarkNet users.