A muon-track reconstruction exploiting stochastic losses for large-scale Cherenkov detectors
Abstract
IceCube is a cubic-kilometer Cherenkov telescope operating at the South Pole. The main goal of IceCube is the detection of astrophysical neutrinos and the identification of their sources. High-energy muon neutrinos are observed via the secondary muons produced in charge current interactions with nuclei in the ice. Currently, the best performing muon track directional reconstruction is based on a maximum likelihood method using the arrival time distribution of Cherenkov photons registered by the experiment's photomultipliers. A known systematic shortcoming of the prevailing method is to assume a continuous energy loss along the muon track. However at energies $>1$ TeV the light yield from muons is dominated by stochastic showers. This paper discusses a generalized ansatz where the expected arrival time distribution is parametrized by a stochastic muon energy loss pattern. This more realistic parametrization of the loss profile leads to an improvement of the muon angular resolution of up to $20\%$ for through-going tracks and up to a factor 2 for starting tracks over existing algorithms. Additionally, the procedure to estimate the directional reconstruction uncertainty has been improved to be more robust against numerical errors.
Authors 100
-
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL 60660, U.S.A
-
Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY
Affiliation as printed
DESY, D-15738 Zeuthen, Germany
-
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, New Zealand
-
Affiliation as printed
Université Libre de Bruxelles, Science Faculty CP230, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium
-
Affiliation as printed
Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
-
Affiliation as printed
Oskar Klein Centre and Department of Physics, Stockholm University, SE-10691 Stockholm, Sweden
-
Affiliation as printed
Département de physique nucléaire et corpusculaire, Université de Genève, CH-1211 Genève, Switzerland
-
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
Affiliation as printed
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Institute for Astroparticle Physics, D-76021 Karlsruhe, Germany
-
Affiliation as printed
Bartol Research Institute and Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, U.S.A
-
R. An corresponding
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics and Laboratory for Particle Physics and Cosmology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A
-
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI, 53201, U.S.A
-
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, U.S.A
-
Affiliation as printed
Université Libre de Bruxelles, Science Faculty CP230, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium
-
Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
Affiliation as printed
Erlangen Centre for Astroparticle Physics, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, D-91058 Erlangen, Germany
-
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics and Laboratory for Particle Physics and Cosmology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A
-
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, U.S.A
-
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
Affiliation as printed
Physics Department, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Rapid City, SD 57701, U.S.A
-
University of Wisconsin–Madison
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics and Wisconsin IceCube Particle Astrophysics Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, U.S.A
-
Affiliation as printed
Département de physique nucléaire et corpusculaire, Université de Genève, CH-1211 Genève, Switzerland
-
University of California, Irvine
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, U.S.A
-
Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY
Affiliation as printed
DESY, D-15738 Zeuthen, Germany
-
University of Wisconsin–Madison
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics and Wisconsin IceCube Particle Astrophysics Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, U.S.A
-
Affiliation as printed
Université Libre de Bruxelles, Science Faculty CP230, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium
-
University of California, Berkeley
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, U.S.A
-
Affiliation as printed
Department of Astronomy, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, U.S.A
Department of Physics and Center for Cosmology and Astro-Particle Physics, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, U.S.A
-
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics, University of Wuppertal, D-42119 Wuppertal, Germany
-
Affiliation as printed
Fakultät für Physik & Astronomie, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, D-44780 Bochum, Germany
-
Technical University of Munich
Affiliation as printed
Physik-department, Technische Universität München, D-85748 Garching, Germany
-
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627, U.S.A
-
University of Maryland, College Park
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, U.S.A
-
Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY
Affiliation as printed
DESY, D-15738 Zeuthen, Germany
-
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, U.S.A
-
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory · University of California, Berkeley
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, U.S.A
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, U.S.A
-
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics, University of Wuppertal, D-42119 Wuppertal, Germany
-
University of Maryland, College Park
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, U.S.A
-
Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY
Affiliation as printed
DESY, D-15738 Zeuthen, Germany
-
Affiliation as printed
III. Physikalisches Institut, RWTH Aachen University, D-52056 Aachen, Germany
-
Affiliation as printed
Institute of Physics, University of Mainz, Staudinger Weg 7, D-55099 Mainz, Germany
-
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Box 516, S-75120 Uppsala, Sweden
-
Affiliation as printed
III. Physikalisches Institut, RWTH Aachen University, D-52056 Aachen, Germany
-
Affiliation as printed
Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
-
University of Wisconsin–Madison
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics and Wisconsin IceCube Particle Astrophysics Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, U.S.A
-
Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY
Affiliation as printed
DESY, D-15738 Zeuthen, Germany
-
University of Wisconsin–Madison
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics and Wisconsin IceCube Particle Astrophysics Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, U.S.A
-
Affiliation as printed
Département de physique nucléaire et corpusculaire, Université de Genève, CH-1211 Genève, Switzerland
-
Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY
Affiliation as printed
DESY, D-15738 Zeuthen, Germany
-
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
Affiliation as printed
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Institute for Astroparticle Physics, D-76021 Karlsruhe, Germany
-
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Box 516, S-75120 Uppsala, Sweden
-
Affiliation as printed
Institut für Kernphysik, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, D-48149 Münster, Germany
-
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics, Drexel University, 3141 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, U.S.A
-
Georgia Institute of Technology
Affiliation as printed
School of Physics and Center for Relativistic Astrophysics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, U.S.A
-
University of Wisconsin–Madison
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics and Wisconsin IceCube Particle Astrophysics Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, U.S.A
-
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 16419, Korea
-
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, U.S.A
-
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, U.S.A
-
Affiliation as printed
Institut für Kernphysik, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, D-48149 Münster, Germany
-
Affiliation as printed
Bartol Research Institute and Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, U.S.A
-
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, U.S.A
-
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, U.S.A
-
Affiliation as printed
Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Dienst ELEM, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium
-
Affiliation as printed
Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Dienst ELEM, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium
-
Affiliation as printed
Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, U.S.A
Department of Physics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, U.S.A
-
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627, U.S.A
-
Georgia Institute of Technology
Affiliation as printed
School of Physics and Center for Relativistic Astrophysics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, U.S.A
-
Affiliation as printed
Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Dienst ELEM, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium
-
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, U.S.A
-
Affiliation as printed
Bartol Research Institute and Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, U.S.A
-
Affiliation as printed
Oskar Klein Centre and Department of Physics, Stockholm University, SE-10691 Stockholm, Sweden
-
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Gent, B-9000 Gent, Belgium
-
University of Wisconsin–Madison
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics and Wisconsin IceCube Particle Astrophysics Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, U.S.A
-
University of Wisconsin–Madison
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics and Wisconsin IceCube Particle Astrophysics Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, U.S.A
-
Affiliation as printed
Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Dienst ELEM, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium
-
Affiliation as printed
Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Dienst ELEM, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium
-
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Affiliation as printed
Institut für Physik, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, D-12489 Berlin, Germany
-
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, U.S.A
-
Affiliation as printed
III. Physikalisches Institut, RWTH Aachen University, D-52056 Aachen, Germany
-
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, U.S.A
-
University of Wisconsin–Madison
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics and Wisconsin IceCube Particle Astrophysics Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, U.S.A
-
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
Affiliation as printed
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Institute for Astroparticle Physics, D-76021 Karlsruhe, Germany
-
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, U.S.A
-
University of Wisconsin–Madison
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics and Wisconsin IceCube Particle Astrophysics Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, U.S.A
-
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
Affiliation as printed
Physics Department, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Rapid City, SD 57701, U.S.A
-
Affiliation as printed
Institute of Physics, University of Mainz, Staudinger Weg 7, D-55099 Mainz, Germany
-
Technical University of Munich
Affiliation as printed
Physik-department, Technische Universität München, D-85748 Garching, Germany
-
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
Affiliation as printed
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Institute for Astroparticle Physics, D-76021 Karlsruhe, Germany
-
Affiliation as printed
III. Physikalisches Institut, RWTH Aachen University, D-52056 Aachen, Germany
-
University of Maryland, College Park
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, U.S.A
-
Affiliation as printed
Bartol Research Institute and Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, U.S.A
-
University of Wisconsin–Madison
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics and Wisconsin IceCube Particle Astrophysics Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, U.S.A
-
Southern University and Agricultural and Mechanical College
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics, Southern University, Baton Rouge, LA 70813, U.S.A
-
Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
Affiliation as printed
Erlangen Centre for Astroparticle Physics, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, D-91058 Erlangen, Germany
-
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, U.S.A
-
University of California, Berkeley
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, U.S.A
-
Affiliation as printed
Oskar Klein Centre and Department of Physics, Stockholm University, SE-10691 Stockholm, Sweden
-
Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY
Affiliation as printed
DESY, D-15738 Zeuthen, Germany
-
Affiliation as printed
Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, U.S.A
-
Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY · Ruhr University Bochum
Affiliation as printed
DESY, D-15738 Zeuthen, Germany
Fakultät für Physik & Astronomie, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, D-44780 Bochum, Germany
-
University of Maryland, College Park
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, U.S.A
-
Affiliation as printed
Institute of Physics, University of Mainz, Staudinger Weg 7, D-55099 Mainz, Germany
-
Affiliation as printed
III. Physikalisches Institut, RWTH Aachen University, D-52056 Aachen, Germany
Cited by 24 stored of 24
No patents citing this paper on Lens.org (checked 2026-10-06).