Investigating production of TeV-scale muons in extensive air shower at 2400 m underground
Abstract Deep underground experiments present a new avenue to probe the first interactions in extensive air showers or hadronic interactions in the extreme forward phase space. The China Jinping Underground Laboratory, characterized by a vertical rock overburden of 2400 m, provides an exceptionally effective shield against cosmic muons with energies below 3 TeV. The surviving high-energy muons, produced in the first interactions of extensive air showers, open a unique observational window into primary cosmic rays from tens of TeV up to the PeV scale and beyond. This distinctive feature also enables detailed studies of charged hadron production in the earliest stages of shower development. Using 1,338.6 live days of data collected with a one-ton prototype detector for the Jinping Neutrino Experiment, we measured the underground muon flux originating from air showers. The results show discrepancies of about 40% corresponding to significances of more than 2 $$\sigma $$ σ , relative to predictions from several leading hadronic interaction models. We interpret these findings from two complementary perspectives: (i) by adopting the expected cosmic-ray spectra, we constrain the modeling of the first hadronic interactions in air showers and provide novel insights into resolving the long-standing muon puzzle ; and (ii) by assuming specific hadronic interaction models, we infer the mass composition of cosmic rays, and our data favor a lighter component in the corresponding energy range. Our study demonstrates the potential of deep underground laboratories to provide new experimental insights into air shower physics and cosmic rays.
Authors
- Bo Liang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0604-0949)
- Xiangpan Ji (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0579-8467)
- Jinjing Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8868-9196)
- Xinshun Zhang
- Tao Xue (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7499-6160)
- H. X. Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-5777-1570)
- Lei Guo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6198-5136)
- Yang Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5659-9049)
- Qian Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-6722-6653)
- Aiqiang Zhang
- Shaomin Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6417-7719)
- Zhe Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7758-3924)
- Yuyi Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9599-7928)
- Wenhui Shao
- Haozhe Sun
- Chuang Xu
- Y. T. Liang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3442-4701)
- Jian Tang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2926-2560)
- Zhicai Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2263-3234)
- Lin Zhao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6469-2902)
- Jianmin Li
- Haoyang Fu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2280-5822)
- Yiyang Wu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3982-0407)
- Wentai Luo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3421-4958)
- Yuzi Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-9712-2896)
- Ming Qi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8083-9065)
- Jun Weng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-5652-9357)
- Benda Xu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5135-1319)
- Tong Wen Xu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-2654-5152)
Institutions
- Shandong University (CN)
- Sun Yat-sen University (CN)
- Hunan University (CN)
- Nankai University (CN)
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Nanjing University (CN)
- Tsinghua University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- The European Physical Journal C
- Published
- 2026-11-09
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-026-16340-5
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Tsinghua University