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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 307 records · Page 17
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

Momentum informed muon scattering tomography for monitoring spent nuclear fuels in dry storage cask

Development of an effective monitoring method for spent nuclear fuel (SNF) in a dry storage cask (DSC) is important to meet the increasing demand for dry storage investigations. The DSC investigation should provide information about the quantity of stored SNF, and quality assurance of materials should be possible without opening the cask. However, traditional nondestructive examination (NDE) methods such as x-rays are difficult to deploy for DSC investigation because a typical DSC is intentionally designed to shield against radiation. To address this challenge, cosmic ray muons (CRMs) are used as an alternative NDE radiation probe because they can easily penetrate an entire DSC system; however, a wide application of muons is often hindered due to the naturally low CRM flux (~10 4 muons/m 2 /min). This paper introduces a newly proposed imaging algorithm, momentum-informed muon scattering tomography (MMST) , and presents how a limitation of the current muon scattering tomography technique has been addressed by measuring muon momentum. To demonstrate its functionality, a commercial DSC with 24 pressurized light water reactor fuel assemblies (FAs) and the MMST system were designed in GEANT4. Three noticeable improvements were observed for MMST system as a DSC investigation tool: (1) a signal stabilization, (2) an enhanced capability to differentiate various materials, and (3) statistically increased precision to identify and locate missing FAs. The results show that MMST improves the investigation accuracy from 79 to 98% when one FA is missing and 51% to 88% when one-half FA is missing. The advancement of the NDE technique using CRM for DSC verification is expected to resolve long-standing problems in increasing demand for DSC inspections and nuclear security.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2013

A measurement of the muon-induced neutron yield in lead at a depth of 2850 m water equivalent

We present results from the measurement of the neutron production rate in lead by high energy cosmic-ray muons at a depth of 2850 m water equivalent (mean muon energy of 260 GeV). A tonne-scale highly segmented plastic scintillator detector was utilised to detect both the energy depositions from the traversing muons as well as the delayed radiative capture signals of the induced neutrons. Complementary Monte Carlo simulations reproduce well the distributions of muons and detected muon-induced neutrons. Absolute agreement between simulation and data is of the order of 25%. By comparing the measured and simulated neutron capture rates a neutron yield in pure lead of (5.78{sub −0.28}{sup +0.21})×10{sup −3} neutrons/muon/(g/cm{sup 2}) has been obtained.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2015

Cosmic rays muon flux measurements at Belgrade shallow underground laboratory

The Belgrade underground laboratory is a shallow underground one, at 25 meters of water equivalent. It is dedicated to low-background spectroscopy and cosmic rays measurement. Its uniqueness is that it is composed of two parts, one above ground, the other bellow with identical sets of detectors and analyzing electronics thus creating opportunity to monitor simultaneously muon flux and ambient radiation. We investigate the possibility of utilizing measurements at the shallow depth for the study of muons, processes to which these muons are sensitive and processes induced by cosmic rays muons. For this purpose a series of simulations of muon generation and propagation is done, based on the CORSIKA air shower simulation package and GEANT4. Results show good agreement with other laboratories and cosmic rays stations.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Simulation of atmospheric temperature effects on cosmic ray muon flux

The collision between a cosmic ray and an atmosphere nucleus produces a set of secondary particles, which will decay or interact with other atmosphere elements. This set of events produced a primary particle is known as an extensive air shower (EAS) and is composed by a muonic, a hadronic and an electromagnetic component. The muonic flux, produced mainly by pions and kaons decays, has a dependency with the atmosphere’s effective temperature: an increase in the effective temperature results in a lower density profile, which decreases the probability of pions and kaons to interact with the atmosphere and, consequently, resulting in a major number of meson decays. Such correlation between the muon flux and the atmosphere’s effective temperature was measured by a set of experiments, such as AMANDA, Borexino, MACRO and MINOS. This phenomena can be investigated by simulating the final muon flux produced by two different parameterizations of the isothermal atmospheric model in CORSIKA, where each parameterization is described by a depth function which can be related to the muon flux in the same way that the muon flux is related to the temperature. This research checks the agreement among different high energy hadronic interactions models and the physical expected behavior of the atmosphere temperature effect by analyzing a set of variables, such as the height of the primary interaction and the difference in the muon flux.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2019

Dynamical simulations of the Muon Campus at Fermilab

The Muon Campus at Fermilab is a system through which muons are delivered to the storage ring of the Muon g-2 Experiment (E989). It consists of a set of 1 km beamlines that transport and prepare a highly polarized muon beam out of secondaries produced downstream a target station. Realistic simulations of this beam delivery system (BDS) using COSY INFINITY, and presented here, contribute to the understanding and characterization of the muon beam production in relation to the statistical and systematic uncertainties of the E989 measurement, intended to be smaller than 0.14 parts per million to achieve the goals of the experiment. The impact of nonlinearities from fringe fields and high-order contributions on the BDS performance are presented, as well as detailed studies of the interactions between secondaries and the beamline elements apertures, particle decay channels, spin dynamics and beamline misalignments.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2016

In-situ Calibration of Detectors using Muon-induced Neutrons

In this work we investigate a method that confirms the operability of neutron detectors requiring neither radiological sources nor radiation-generating devices. This is desirable when radiological sources are not available, but confidence in the functionality of the instrument is required. The “source”, based on the production of neutrons in high-Z materials by muons, provides a tagged, low-background and consistent rate of neutrons that can be used to check the functionality of or calibrate a detector. Using a Monte Carlo guided optimization, an experimental apparatus was designed and built to evaluate the feasibility of this technique. Through a series of trial measurements in a variety of locations we show that gated muon-induced neutrons appear to provide a consistent source of neutrons (35.9 ± 2.3 measured neutrons/10,000 muons in the instrument) under normal environmental variability (less than one statistical standard deviation for 10,000 muons) with a combined environmental + statistical uncertainty of ~18% for 10,000 muons. This is achieved in a single 21-22 minute measurement at sea level.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2017

Prospects for a Muon Spin Resonance Facility in the MuCool Test Area

This paper investigates the feasibility of re-purposing the MuCool Test Area beamline and experimental hall to support a Muon Spin Resonance facility, which would make it the only such facility in the US. This report reviews the basic muon production concepts studied and operationally implemented at TRIUMF, PSI, and RAL and their application to the MTA facility. Two scenarios were determined feasible. One represents an initial minimal-shielding and capital-cost investment stage with a single secondary muon beamline that transports the primary beam to an existing high-intensity beam absorber located outside of the hall. Another, upgraded stage, involves an optimized production target pile and high-intensity absorber installed inside the experimental hall and potentially multiple secondary muon lines. In either scenario, with attention to target design, the MTA can host enabling and competitive Muon Spin Resonance experiments

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Cosmic ray muon computed tomography of spent nuclear fuel in dry storage casks

Radiography with cosmic ray muon scattering has proven to be a successful method of imaging nuclear material through heavy shielding. Of particular interest is monitoring dry storage casks for diversion of plutonium contained in spent reactor fuel. Using muon tracking detectors that surround a cylindrical cask, cosmic ray muon scattering can be simultaneously measured from all azimuthal angles, giving complete tomographic coverage of the cask interior. This article describes the first application of filtered back projection algorithms, typically used in medical imaging, to cosmic ray muon scattering imaging. The specific application to monitoring spent nuclear fuel in dry storage casks is investigated via GEANT4 simulations. With a cylindrical muon tracking detector surrounding a typical spent fuel cask, simulations indicate that missing fuel bundles can be detected with a statistical significance of ~18σ in less than two days exposure and a sensitivity at 1σ to a 5% missing portion of a fuel bundle. Finally, we discuss potential detector technologies and geometries.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2019

Measurements of the muon flux produced by 10.6 GeV electrons in a beam dump

This paper proposes the results of an experiment to assess the muon flux produced by the interaction of a 10.6 GeV electron beam with the Hall-A beam dump at Jefferson Lab (JLab). The goal was to benchmark Monte Carlo simulations that are an essential tool for estimating beam-related backgrounds in beam-dump experiments aimed at searching for rare events, such as the Beam Dump eXperiment (BDX) planned at JLab. Beam-produced muons were measured with a CsI(Tl) crystal sandwiched between a set of segmented plastic scintillators placed at two different distances from the dump: 25.7 m and 28.8 m. At each location the muon flux was sampled at different vertical positions with respect to the beam height. Data have been compared with detailed Monte Carlo simulations using FLUKA for the muon production in the dump and propagation to the detector, and GEANT4 to simulate the detector response. The good agreement between data and simulations, within the uncertainties of the soil composition and density, exhibit the validity of our simulation tools to predict the beam-related muon background in electron beam-dump experiments at ~10 GeV.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2022

A muon–ion collider at BNL: The future QCD frontier and path to a new energy frontier of μ + μ – colliders

In this work, we propose the development and construction of a novel muon–ion collider (MuIC) at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) in the USA as an upgrade to succeed the electron–ion collider (EIC) that is scheduled to commence in the early 2030s, by a joint effort of the nuclear and particle physics communities. The BNL facility could accommodate a muon storage beam with an energy up to about 1 TeV with existing magnet technology. When collided with a 275 GeV hadron beam, the MuIC center-of-mass energy of about 1 TeV will extend the kinematic coverage of deep inelastic scattering physics at the EIC (with polarized beams) by more than an order of magnitude in Q 2 and x, opening a new QCD frontier to address many fundamental scientific questions in nuclear and particle physics. This coverage is comparable to that of the proposed Large Hadron–Electron Collider (LHeC) at CERN, but with complementary lepton and hadron kinematics, ion species, and beam polarization. Additionally, the development of a MuIC at BNL will focus the worldwide R&D efforts on muon collider technology and serve as a demonstrator toward a future muon–antimuon collider at O(10) TeV energy, which is an attractive option to reach the next high energy frontier in particle physics at an affordable cost and a smaller footprint than a future circular hadron collider. We discuss here the possible design parameters of the MuIC, kinematic coverage, science cases, and detector design considerations including resolution estimates on DIS kinematic variables. A possible road map toward the future MuIC and muon–antimuon colliders is also presented.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Muon flux measurement at China Jinping Underground Laboratory

China Jinping Underground Laboratory (CJPL) is ideal for studying solar, geo-, and supernova neutrinos. A precise measurement of the cosmic-ray background is essential in proceeding with R&D research for these MeV-scale neutrino experiments. Using a 1-ton prototype detector for the Jinping Neutrino Experiment (JNE), we detected 264 high-energy muon events from a 645.2-day dataset from the first phase of CJPL (CJPL-I), reconstructed their directions, and measured the cosmic-ray muon flux to be $(3.53\pm0.22_{\rm{stat.}}\pm0.07_{\rm{sys.}})\times10^{-10}$ cm $^{-2}$s $^{-1}$. The observed angular distributions indicate the leakage of cosmic-ray muon background and agree with simulation data accounting for Jinping mountain's terrain. A survey of muon fluxes at different laboratory locations, considering both those situated under mountains and those down mine shafts, indicates that the flux at the former is generally a factor of $(4\pm2)$ larger than at the latter, with the same vertical overburden. In conclusion, this study provides a convenient back-of-the-envelope estimation for the muon flux of an underground experiment.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Muon identification using multivariate techniques in the CMS experiment in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 13 TeV

The identification of prompt and isolated muons, as well asmuons from heavy-flavour hadron decays, is an important task. Wedeveloped two multivariate techniques to provide highly efficientidentification for muons with transverse momentum greater than10 GeV. One provides a continuous variable as an alternative to acut-based identification selection and offers a betterdiscrimination power against misidentified muons. The other oneselects prompt and isolated muons by using isolation requirements toreduce the contamination from nonprompt muons arising inheavy-flavour hadron decays. Both algorithms are developed using59.7 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collisions data at a centre-of-massenergy of √(s)=13 TeV collected in 2018 with the CMSexperiment at the CERN LHC.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2024

Performance of CMS muon reconstruction from proton-proton to heavy ion collisions

The performance of muon tracking, identification, triggering, momentum resolution, and momentum scale has been studied with the CMS detector at the LHC using data collected at √(s$_{NN}$) = 5.02 TeV in proton-proton (pp) and lead-lead(PbPb) collisions in 2017 and 2018, respectively, and at √(s$_{NN}$) = 8.16 TeV in proton-lead (pPb) collisions in 2016. Muon efficiencies, momentum resolutions, and momentum scales are compared by focusing on how the muon reconstruction performance varies from relatively small occupancy pp collisions to the larger occupancies of pPb collisions and, finally, to the highest track multiplicity PbPb collisions. We find the efficiencies of muon tracking, identification, and triggering to be above 90% throughout most of the track multiplicity range. The momentum resolution and scale are unaffected by the detector occupancy. The excellent muon reconstruction of the CMS detector enables precision studies across all available collision systems.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2026

Analytic Chromaticity Formulas for the Muon g -2 experiment at fermilab

The Muon g-2 Experiment (E989) at Fermilab measured the muon anomalous magnetic moment aμ with unprecedented precision of 127 ppb using a storage ring. The experiment pushed the limits in terms of accuracy and systematic errors. Achieving the 78-ppb total systematic uncertainty required precise beam dynamics modeling and corrections for effects on the measured muon precession frequency. Here, we derived the first analytic aberration formulas up to the second order for the muon g-2 storage ring’s combined-function electrostatic quadrupoles (superimposed magnetic dipole and electric quadrupole fields) using an order-by-order perturbation method. From these, we obtained the exact chromaticity formulas for three ring models of different granularity and validated them against numerical calculations using COSY INFINITY, achieving analytic-numerical agreement to ⁠$\mathscr{O}(10^{-10})$. This work resolved discrepancies between previous approximate derivations and provided essential beam dynamics results for Runs 4-6 analyses. We also calculated nonlinear chromaticities up to ninth order. The experiment completed its final Run 6 in July 2023, collecting 21 times more data than the previous muon g-2 experiment at Brookhaven National Laboratory, with the final result announced in June 2025.

aberrations↗
DOE OSTI2025

Essay: A Path for the Construction of a Muon Collider

Muons are elementary particles and provide cleaner collision events that can explore higher energies compared to composite particles like protons. Muons are also far heavier than their electron cousins, meaning that they emit less synchrotron radiation that effectively limits the energies of circular electron-positron colliders. These characteristics open up the possibility for a muon collider to surpass the direct energy reach of the Large Hadron Collider while achieving unprecedented precision measurements of standard model processes. In this Essay, after briefly summarizing the progress achieved so far, I identify important missing research and development steps and envision a compelling plan to bring a muon collider to reality in the next two decades. A muon collider could allow for the exploration of physics that is not available with current technologies. For example, it may provide a way to study the Higgs boson directly or probe new particles, including those related to dark matter or other phenomena beyond the standard model. . Published by the American Physical Society 2025

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2018

The upgrade of endcap CMS muon system

The configuration and composition of the CMS muon system are presented. The paper is focused on cathode strip chambers (CSC) used as the endcap muon system detectors. The goals and objectives of the endcap muon system upgrade are formulated. The main results of works accomplished for the ME1/1 CSCs upgrade and the new ME4/2 muon station construction during the LHC Long Shutdown-1 (2013–2014) are presented. The improved performances of the endcap muon system are shown using experimental data obtained after the upgrade (Run2 data).

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Measuring the energy deposited by muon bundles of inclined EAS in the NEVOD-DECOR experiment

As part of an in-depth investigation of the muon excess observed in ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays, one needs to measure the energy characteristics of muon component of extensive air showers (EAS). The mean muon energy can be estimated from the energy deposited in the detector by the muon bundles. In the NEVOD-DECOR experiment, the local muon density and the shower-arrival direction are measured with a track-coordinate detector, and the deposited energy is measured in the Cherenkov calorimeter. The results of the measurements carried out in 17400 h of detector operation are compared with those of the simulation based on the CORSIKA package.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Muon Tomography at Los Alamos [Slides]

This presentation includes a look at Cosmic-ray muon background, Mini Muon Tracker (MMT), and Muon interactions with matter. Which deals with Energy loss, Multiple Coulomb scattering, and Muon induced fission. This presentation also looks at Horizontal reactor imaging at Fukushima. With a greater look at Mock reactor, Fukushima simulations and measurements, UNMRR measurements, Japan NCA measurements, and Next steps to Fukushima. Lastly, discussed is Carbon fiber tubes and the future of muon tomography.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗