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arXiv · 2507.23458

Probing Cosmic Ray Composition and Muon-philic Dark Matter via Muon Tomography

Cheng-en Liu·Rongfeng Zhang·Zijian Wang·Andrew Michael Levin·Leyun Gao·Jinning Li·Minxiao Fan·Youpeng Wu·Zibo Qin·Yong Ban·Zaihong Yang·Qite Li·Chen Zhou·Qiang Li
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Abstract

This work presents a novel cosmic-ray scattering experiment employing a Resistive Plate Chambers (RPC) muon tomography system. By introducing the scattering angle between incident and outgoing cosmic-ray tracks as a key observable, this approach enables simultaneous studies of secondary cosmic-ray composition and searching for new physics. During a 63-day campaign, 1.18 million cosmic ray scattering events were recorded and analyzed. By performing combined template fits to the observed angular distribution, particle abundances are measured -- for example, resolving the electron component at $\sim 2\%$ precision. Furthermore, constraints are established on elastic muon dark matter (DM) scattering cross-sections for muon-philic dark matter. At the $95\%$ confidence level, the limit reaches 1.61 $\times$ $10^{-17}$ $\rm{cm}^{2}$ for 1 GeV slow DM, demonstrating sensitivity limit to light muon-coupled slow DM, in scenarios where a strongly interacting dark matter component is captured and thermalized within the Earth, leading to large surface densities.

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Cheng-en Liu, Rongfeng Zhang, Zijian Wang, Andrew Michael Levin, Leyun Gao, Jinning Li, Minxiao Fan, Youpeng Wu, Zibo Qin, Yong Ban, Zaihong Yang, Qite Li, Chen Zhou, Qiang Li. 2025-07-31. Probing Cosmic Ray Composition and Muon-philic Dark Matter via Muon Tomography. https://doi.org/10.1103/5jh7-fxf4

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