BibTex format
@article{Abubakar:2026:10.1103/6djf-6bn5,
author = {Abubakar, S and Acero, MA and Acharya, B and Adamson, P and Anfimov, N and Antoshkin, A and Arrieta-Diaz, E and Asquith, L and Aurisano, A and Back, A and Balashov, N and Baldi, P and Bambah, BA and Bannister, EF and Barros, A and Barrow, J and Bat, A and Bezerra, TJC and Bhatnagar, V and Bhuyan, B and Bian, J and Booth, AC and Bowles, R and Brahma, B and Bromberg, C and Buchanan, N and Butkevich, A and Carroll, TJ and Catano-Mur, E and Cesar, JP and Chaudhary, S and Chirco, R and Choate, S and Choudhary, BC and Chow, OTK and Christensen, A and Cicala, MF and Coan, TE and Contreras, T and Cooleybeck, A and Coveyou, D and Cremonesi, L and Davies, GS and Derwent, PF and Djurcic, Z and Dobbs, K and Dueñas, Tonguino D and Dukes, EC and Dye, A and Ehrlich, R and Ewart, E and Filip, P and Frank, MJ and Gallagher, HR and Giri, A and Gomes, RA and Goodman, MC and Group, R and Guan, E and Habig, A and Hakl, F and Hartnell, J and Hatcher, R and Hays, JM and He, M and Heller, K and Hewes, V and H},
doi = {10.1103/6djf-6bn5},
journal = {Physical Review D},
title = {Explanation of the seasonal variation of cosmic multiple muon events observed with the NOvA Near Detector},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/6djf-6bn5},
volume = {113},
year = {2026}
}
RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)
TY - JOUR
AB - The flux of cosmic ray muons at the Earth’s surface exhibits seasonal variations due to changes in the temperature of the atmosphere affecting the production and decay of mesons in the upper atmosphere. Using 1473 live days of data collected by the NuMI Off-axis ν<inf>e</inf> Appearance (NOvA) Near Detector during 2018–2022, we studied the seasonal pattern in the multiple-muon event rate. The data confirm an anticorrelation between the multiple-muon event rate and effective atmospheric temperature, consistent across all the years of data. Previous analyses from MINOS and NOvA saw a similar anticorrelation but did not include an explanation. We find that this anticorrelation is driven by altitude–geometry effects as the average muon production height changes with the season. This has been studied with a CORSIKA cosmic ray simulation package by varying atmospheric parameters, and provides an explanation to a longstanding discrepancy between the seasonal phases of single and multiple-muon events.
AU - Abubakar,S
AU - Acero,MA
AU - Acharya,B
AU - Adamson,P
AU - Anfimov,N
AU - Antoshkin,A
AU - Arrieta-Diaz,E
AU - Asquith,L
AU - Aurisano,A
AU - Back,A
AU - Balashov,N
AU - Baldi,P
AU - Bambah,BA
AU - Bannister,EF
AU - Barros,A
AU - Barrow,J
AU - Bat,A
AU - Bezerra,TJC
AU - Bhatnagar,V
AU - Bhuyan,B
AU - Bian,J
AU - Booth,AC
AU - Bowles,R
AU - Brahma,B
AU - Bromberg,C
AU - Buchanan,N
AU - Butkevich,A
AU - Carroll,TJ
AU - Catano-Mur,E
AU - Cesar,JP
AU - Chaudhary,S
AU - Chirco,R
AU - Choate,S
AU - Choudhary,BC
AU - Chow,OTK
AU - Christensen,A
AU - Cicala,MF
AU - Coan,TE
AU - Contreras,T
AU - Cooleybeck,A
AU - Coveyou,D
AU - Cremonesi,L
AU - Davies,GS
AU - Derwent,PF
AU - Djurcic,Z
AU - Dobbs,K
AU - Dueñas,Tonguino D
AU - Dukes,EC
AU - Dye,A
AU - Ehrlich,R
AU - Ewart,E
AU - Filip,P
AU - Frank,MJ
AU - Gallagher,HR
AU - Giri,A
AU - Gomes,RA
AU - Goodman,MC
AU - Group,R
AU - Guan,E
AU - Habig,A
AU - Hakl,F
AU - Hartnell,J
AU - Hatcher,R
AU - Hays,JM
AU - He,M
AU - Heller,K
AU - Hewes,V
AU - Himmel,A
AU - Horoho,T
AU - Huang,X
AU - Ivanova,A
AU - Kakorin,I
AU - Kalitkina,A
AU - Kaplan,DM
AU - Khanam,A
AU - Kirezli,B
AU - Kleykamp,J
AU - Klimov,O
AU - Koerner,LW
AU - Kolupaeva,L
AU - Kralik,R
AU - Kumar,A
AU - Kuruppu,CD
AU - Kus,V
AU - Lackey,T
AU - Lang,K
AU - Lesmeister,J
AU - Lister,A
AU - Lock,JA
AU - Magill,S
AU - Mann,WA
AU - Manoharan,MT
AU - Manrique,Plata M
AU - Marshak,ML
AU - Martinez-Casales,M
AU - Matveev,V
AU - Medhi,A
AU - Mehta,B
AU - Messier,MD
AU - Meyer,H
DO - 10.1103/6djf-6bn5
PY - 2026///
SN - 2470-0010
TI - Explanation of the seasonal variation of cosmic multiple muon events observed with the NOvA Near Detector
T2 - Physical Review D
UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/6djf-6bn5
VL - 113
ER -