γ/hadron discrimination by analysis of the muon lateral distribution and the ALPAQUITA array

M. Anzorena; E. de la Fuente; K. Fujita; R. Garcia; K. Goto; Y. Hayashi; K. Hibino; N. Hotta; G. Imaizumi; A. Jimenez-Meza; Y. Katayose; C. Kato; S. Kato; T. Kawashima; K. Kawata; T. Koi; H. Kojima; T. Makishima; Y. Masuda; S. Matsuhashi; M. Matsumoto; R. Mayta; P. Miranda; A. Mizuno; K. Munakata; Y. Nakamura; M. Nishizawa; Y. Noguchi; S. Ogio; M. Ohnishi; S. Okukawa; A. Oshima; M. Raljevic; H. Rivera; T. Saito; T. Sako; T. K. Sako; T. Shibasaki; S. Shibata; A. Shiomi; M. Subieta; F. Sugimoto; N. Tajima; W. Takano; M. Takita; Y. Tameda; K. Tanaka; R. Ticona; I. Toledano-Juarez; H. Tsuchiya; Y. Tsunesada; S. Udo; R. Usui; G. Yamagishi; K. Yamazaki; Y. Yokoe

doi:10.1007/s10686-025-09981-z

γ/hadron discrimination by analysis of the muon lateral distribution and the ALPAQUITA array

M. Anzorena, E. de la Fuente, K. Fujita, R. Garcia, K. Goto, Y. Hayashi, K. Hibino, N. Hotta, G. Imaizumi, A. Jimenez-Meza, Y. Katayose, C. Kato, S. Kato, T. Kawashima, K. Kawata, T. Koi, H. Kojima, T. Makishima, Y. Masuda, S. MatsuhashiM. Matsumoto, R. Mayta, P. Miranda, A. Mizuno, K. Munakata, Y. Nakamura, M. Nishizawa, Y. Noguchi, S. Ogio, M. Ohnishi, S. Okukawa, A. Oshima, M. Raljevic, H. Rivera, T. Saito, T. Sako, T. K. Sako, T. Shibasaki, S. Shibata, A. Shiomi, M. Subieta, F. Sugimoto, N. Tajima, W. Takano, M. Takita, Y. Tameda, K. Tanaka, R. Ticona, I. Toledano-Juarez, H. Tsuchiya, Y. Tsunesada, S. Udo, R. Usui, G. Yamagishi, K. Yamazaki, Y. Yokoe

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

A new method using the muon lateral distribution and an underground muon detector to achieve high discrimination power against hadrons is presented. The method is designed to be applied in the Andes Large-area PArticle detector for Cosmic-ray physics and Astronomy (ALPACA) experiment in Bolivia. This new observatory in the Southern hemisphere has the goal of detecting >100 TeV γ rays in search for the origins of Galactic cosmic rays. The method uses the weighted sum of the lateral distribution of the muons detected by underground detectors to separate between air showers initiated by cosmic rays and γ rays. We evaluate the performance of the method through Monte Carlo simulations with CORSIKA and Geant4 and apply the analysis to the prototype of ALPACA, ALPAQUITA. With the application of this method in ALPAQUITA, we achieve an improvement of about 18 % in the energy range from 60 to 100 TeV over the estimated sensitivity using only the total number of muons.

Original language	English
Article number	13
Journal	Experimental Astronomy
Volume	59
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10686-025-09981-z
State	Published - Feb 2025

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2025.

Keywords

Gamma/hadron discrimination
Muon lateral distribution
Sub-PeV γ-ray astronomy

Access to Document

10.1007/s10686-025-09981-z

Cite this

Anzorena, M., de la Fuente, E., Fujita, K., Garcia, R., Goto, K., Hayashi, Y., Hibino, K., Hotta, N., Imaizumi, G., Jimenez-Meza, A., Katayose, Y., Kato, C., Kato, S., Kawashima, T., Kawata, K., Koi, T., Kojima, H., Makishima, T., Masuda, Y., ... Yokoe, Y. (2025). γ/hadron discrimination by analysis of the muon lateral distribution and the ALPAQUITA array. Experimental Astronomy, 59(1), Article 13. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10686-025-09981-z

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title = "γ/hadron discrimination by analysis of the muon lateral distribution and the ALPAQUITA array",

abstract = "A new method using the muon lateral distribution and an underground muon detector to achieve high discrimination power against hadrons is presented. The method is designed to be applied in the Andes Large-area PArticle detector for Cosmic-ray physics and Astronomy (ALPACA) experiment in Bolivia. This new observatory in the Southern hemisphere has the goal of detecting >100 TeV γ rays in search for the origins of Galactic cosmic rays. The method uses the weighted sum of the lateral distribution of the muons detected by underground detectors to separate between air showers initiated by cosmic rays and γ rays. We evaluate the performance of the method through Monte Carlo simulations with CORSIKA and Geant4 and apply the analysis to the prototype of ALPACA, ALPAQUITA. With the application of this method in ALPAQUITA, we achieve an improvement of about 18 % in the energy range from 60 to 100 TeV over the estimated sensitivity using only the total number of muons.",

keywords = "Gamma/hadron discrimination, Muon lateral distribution, Sub-PeV γ-ray astronomy",

author = "M. Anzorena and {de la Fuente}, E. and K. Fujita and R. Garcia and K. Goto and Y. Hayashi and K. Hibino and N. Hotta and G. Imaizumi and A. Jimenez-Meza and Y. Katayose and C. Kato and S. Kato and T. Kawashima and K. Kawata and T. Koi and H. Kojima and T. Makishima and Y. Masuda and S. Matsuhashi and M. Matsumoto and R. Mayta and P. Miranda and A. Mizuno and K. Munakata and Y. Nakamura and M. Nishizawa and Y. Noguchi and S. Ogio and M. Ohnishi and S. Okukawa and A. Oshima and M. Raljevic and H. Rivera and T. Saito and T. Sako and Sako, {T. K.} and T. Shibasaki and S. Shibata and A. Shiomi and M. Subieta and F. Sugimoto and N. Tajima and W. Takano and M. Takita and Y. Tameda and K. Tanaka and R. Ticona and I. Toledano-Juarez and H. Tsuchiya and Y. Tsunesada and S. Udo and R. Usui and G. Yamagishi and K. Yamazaki and Y. Yokoe",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Author(s) 2025.",

year = "2025",

month = feb,

doi = "10.1007/s10686-025-09981-z",

language = "Ingl{\'e}s",

volume = "59",

journal = "Experimental Astronomy",

issn = "0922-6435",

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number = "1",

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Anzorena, M, de la Fuente, E, Fujita, K, Garcia, R, Goto, K, Hayashi, Y, Hibino, K, Hotta, N, Imaizumi, G, Jimenez-Meza, A, Katayose, Y, Kato, C, Kato, S, Kawashima, T, Kawata, K, Koi, T, Kojima, H, Makishima, T, Masuda, Y, Matsuhashi, S, Matsumoto, M, Mayta, R, Miranda, P, Mizuno, A, Munakata, K, Nakamura, Y, Nishizawa, M, Noguchi, Y, Ogio, S, Ohnishi, M, Okukawa, S, Oshima, A, Raljevic, M, Rivera, H, Saito, T, Sako, T, Sako, TK, Shibasaki, T, Shibata, S, Shiomi, A, Subieta, M, Sugimoto, F, Tajima, N, Takano, W, Takita, M, Tameda, Y, Tanaka, K, Ticona, R, Toledano-Juarez, I, Tsuchiya, H, Tsunesada, Y, Udo, S, Usui, R, Yamagishi, G, Yamazaki, K & Yokoe, Y 2025, 'γ/hadron discrimination by analysis of the muon lateral distribution and the ALPAQUITA array', Experimental Astronomy, vol. 59, no. 1, 13. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10686-025-09981-z

TY - JOUR

T1 - γ/hadron discrimination by analysis of the muon lateral distribution and the ALPAQUITA array

AU - Anzorena, M.

AU - de la Fuente, E.

AU - Fujita, K.

AU - Garcia, R.

AU - Goto, K.

AU - Hayashi, Y.

AU - Hibino, K.

AU - Hotta, N.

AU - Imaizumi, G.

AU - Jimenez-Meza, A.

AU - Katayose, Y.

AU - Kato, C.

AU - Kato, S.

AU - Kawashima, T.

AU - Kawata, K.

AU - Koi, T.

AU - Kojima, H.

AU - Makishima, T.

AU - Masuda, Y.

AU - Matsuhashi, S.

AU - Matsumoto, M.

AU - Mayta, R.

AU - Miranda, P.

AU - Mizuno, A.

AU - Munakata, K.

AU - Nakamura, Y.

AU - Nishizawa, M.

AU - Noguchi, Y.

AU - Ogio, S.

AU - Ohnishi, M.

AU - Okukawa, S.

AU - Oshima, A.

AU - Raljevic, M.

AU - Rivera, H.

AU - Saito, T.

AU - Sako, T.

AU - Sako, T. K.

AU - Shibasaki, T.

AU - Shibata, S.

AU - Shiomi, A.

AU - Subieta, M.

AU - Sugimoto, F.

AU - Tajima, N.

AU - Takano, W.

AU - Takita, M.

AU - Tameda, Y.

AU - Tanaka, K.

AU - Ticona, R.

AU - Toledano-Juarez, I.

AU - Tsuchiya, H.

AU - Tsunesada, Y.

AU - Udo, S.

AU - Usui, R.

AU - Yamagishi, G.

AU - Yamazaki, K.

AU - Yokoe, Y.

PY - 2025/2

Y1 - 2025/2

N2 - A new method using the muon lateral distribution and an underground muon detector to achieve high discrimination power against hadrons is presented. The method is designed to be applied in the Andes Large-area PArticle detector for Cosmic-ray physics and Astronomy (ALPACA) experiment in Bolivia. This new observatory in the Southern hemisphere has the goal of detecting >100 TeV γ rays in search for the origins of Galactic cosmic rays. The method uses the weighted sum of the lateral distribution of the muons detected by underground detectors to separate between air showers initiated by cosmic rays and γ rays. We evaluate the performance of the method through Monte Carlo simulations with CORSIKA and Geant4 and apply the analysis to the prototype of ALPACA, ALPAQUITA. With the application of this method in ALPAQUITA, we achieve an improvement of about 18 % in the energy range from 60 to 100 TeV over the estimated sensitivity using only the total number of muons.

AB - A new method using the muon lateral distribution and an underground muon detector to achieve high discrimination power against hadrons is presented. The method is designed to be applied in the Andes Large-area PArticle detector for Cosmic-ray physics and Astronomy (ALPACA) experiment in Bolivia. This new observatory in the Southern hemisphere has the goal of detecting >100 TeV γ rays in search for the origins of Galactic cosmic rays. The method uses the weighted sum of the lateral distribution of the muons detected by underground detectors to separate between air showers initiated by cosmic rays and γ rays. We evaluate the performance of the method through Monte Carlo simulations with CORSIKA and Geant4 and apply the analysis to the prototype of ALPACA, ALPAQUITA. With the application of this method in ALPAQUITA, we achieve an improvement of about 18 % in the energy range from 60 to 100 TeV over the estimated sensitivity using only the total number of muons.

KW - Gamma/hadron discrimination

KW - Muon lateral distribution

KW - Sub-PeV γ-ray astronomy

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85217739355&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1007/s10686-025-09981-z

DO - 10.1007/s10686-025-09981-z

M3 - Artículo

AN - SCOPUS:85217739355

SN - 0922-6435

VL - 59

JO - Experimental Astronomy

JF - Experimental Astronomy

IS - 1

M1 - 13

ER -