Trajectory determination of muons using scintillators and a novel self-organizative map

• Published in: Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
• Main Authors: Regadío Carretero, Alberto, García Tejedor, Juan Ignacio, Ayuso de Gregorio, Sindulfo, García Población, Óscar, Blanco Ávalos, Juan José, Sánchez Prieto, Sebastián, Rodríguez Polo, Óscar
• Other Authors: Universidad de Alcalá. Departamento de Automática, Universidad de Alcalá. Departamento de Física y Matemáticas. Unidad docente Física
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2020
• Subjects: Digital pulse processing; Instrumentation; Muon detector; Scintillator; Self-organizative mapNeural network; Neural network; Física; Physics; Antarctic; Livingston Island; Antarc*; Antarctica; Orca
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10017/59210; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2020.164166

In this work we propose a method for the determination of the impact point of muons in scintillators using a novel type of self-organizative maps called Self-Equalizing Map (SEM) and comparing the relative pulse height obtained by four photomultipliers (PMTs) at each scintillator. Using two 1 m${^2}$ scintillators and calculating the impact point in both of them, we can also estimate the angle of incidence of these particles. This method has been specifically designed for a muon telescope called MITO (Muon Impact Tracer and Observer) which is part of the ORCA (Antarctic Cosmic Ray Observatory). Data from tests using MITO in Livingston Island, Antarctica have been used to evaluate the feasibility of this method. The obtained directions have been found to be consistent with the expected incident directions of atmospheric muons produced by the interaction between CRs and atmospheric atoms. Agencia Estatal de Investigación