Background induced by neutrons in deep underground laboratories is a critical issue for all experiments looking for rare events, such as dark matter interactions or neutrinoless 2-beta decay. Neutrons can be produced either by natural radioactivity, via spontaneous fission or (alpha,n) reactions, or by interactions initiated by high-energy cosmic rays. In all underground experiments, Monte Carlo simulations of neutron background play a crucial role for the evaluation of the total background rate and for the optimization of rejection strategies. The Monte Carlo methods that are commonly employed to evaluate neutron-induced background and to optimize the experimental setup, are reviewed and discussed. Focus is given to the issue of reliability of Monte Carlo background estimates.
@article{arxiv.0802.3566,
title = {Neutron- and muon-induced background in underground physics experiments},
author = {V. A. Kudryavtsev and L. Pandola and V. Tomasello},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0802.3566},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
10 pages, 8 figures. Presented in the IV ILIAS Annual Meeting. Accepted for publication on EPJ A