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Spallation Backgrounds in Super-Kamiokande Are Made in Muon-Induced Showers

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Paper breakdownThe authors' claims, conditions and measurements, as JSON Signed receiptProof this review has not been altered
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Shirley Weishi Li, John F. Beacom (Ohio State University)

High Energy Physics - Phenomenology · Submitted 16 Mar 2015

abstract compiled · 2026-09-23 · no language-model review

The authors' main claim We show that almost all spallation decay isotopes are produced by muon-induced showers and that these showers are rare enough and energetic enough to be identifiable.

how it is stated · asserted 1.00 read the record →

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arXiv ID1503.04823 (version 2)
Pith ID6S6NG4BT, Pith's permanent record of this paper and its review
CitationJohn F. Beacom (Ohio State University), Shirley Weishi Li. "Spallation Backgrounds in Super-Kamiokande Are Made in Muon-Induced Showers." arXiv:1503.04823 (2015). https://pith.science/paper/6S6NG4BT
Claim paper

The compiled record

The paper's own sentences, arranged. Each label is drawn from a closed vocabulary; the number beside it is the probability the classifier gave that label. Numbers in the tables are the authors', checked by code. No sentence in this record was written by a model.

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Compiled by classifier-1.13-20260917 via OpenRouter, question bank abstract-p1-20260923, 2026-09-23: 1 request, 8,970 input tokens, $0.0004 reported.

What the abstract itself states, as probabilities: claims first 0.96 · states limitation 0.20 · human participants 0.02 · controlled comparison 0.20 · randomized assignment 0.01 · states quantitative result 0.69 · compares with prior results 0.94 · mentions code or data availability 0.02.

The abstract, sentence by sentence

arXiv listing abstract v2. Results and the main claim are underlined; .

Crucial questions about solar and supernova neutrinos remain unanswered. Super-Kamiokande has the exposure needed for progress, but detector backgrounds are a limiting factor. A leading component is the beta decays of isotopes produced by cosmic-ray muons and their secondaries, which initiate nuclear spallation reactions. Cuts of events after and surrounding muon tracks reduce this spallation decay background by $\simeq 90\%$ (at a cost of $\simeq 20\%$ deadtime), but its rate at 6--18 MeV is still dominant. A better way to cut this background was suggested in a Super-Kamiokande paper [Bays {\it et al.}, Phys.~Rev.~D {\bf 85}, 052007 (2012)] on a search for the diffuse supernova neutrino background. They found that spallation decays above 16 MeV were preceded near the same location by a peak in the apparent Cherenkov light profile from the muon; a more aggressive cut was applied to a limited section of the muon track, leading to decreased background without increased deadtime. We put their empirical discovery on a firm theoretical foundation. We show that almost all spallation decay isotopes are produced by muon-induced showers and that these showers are rare enough and energetic enough to be identifiable. This is the first such demonstration for any detector. We detail how the physics of showers explains the peak in the muon Cherenkov light profile and other Super-K observations. Our results provide a physical basis for practical improvements in background rejection that will benefit multiple studies. For solar neutrinos, in particular, it should be possible to dramatically reduce backgrounds at energies as low as 6 MeV.

background contribution method result interpretation main claim

What the classifier reports for each sentence. The number is the probability it gave the label.
#sentencerolethe authors' own workstates the main conclusionstrength
s0 Crucial questions about solar and supernova neutrinos remain unanswered. background 0.79 0.03 0.02 asserted 1.00
s1 Super-Kamiokande has the exposure needed for progress, but detector backgrounds are a limiting factor. background 0.93 0.08 0.02 asserted 1.00
s2 A leading component is the beta decays of isotopes produced by cosmic-ray muons and their secondaries, which initiate nuclear spallation reactions. background 1.00 0.07 0.08 asserted 0.99
s3 Cuts of events after and surrounding muon tracks reduce this spallation decay background by $\simeq 90\%$ (at a cost of $\simeq 20\%$ deadtime), but its rate at 6--18 MeV is still dominant. background 0.94 0.28 0.05 asserted 1.00
s4 A better way to cut this background was suggested in a Super-Kamiokande paper [Bays {\it et al.}, Phys.~Rev.~D {\bf 85}, 052007 (2012)] on a search for the diffuse supernova neutrino background. background 0.97 0.03 0.04 asserted 0.93
s5 They found that spallation decays above 16 MeV were preceded near the same location by a peak in the apparent Cherenkov light profile from the muon; a more aggressive cut was applied to a limited section of the muon track, leading to decreased background without increased deadtime. background 0.95 0.04 0.07 asserted 1.00
s6 We put their empirical discovery on a firm theoretical foundation. contribution 0.96 0.78 0.10 asserted 0.98
s7 We show that almost all spallation decay isotopes are produced by muon-induced showers and that these showers are rare enough and energetic enough to be identifiable. result 0.92 0.94 0.81 asserted 1.00
s8 This is the first such demonstration for any detector. contribution 0.66 0.80 0.14 asserted 1.00
s9 We detail how the physics of showers explains the peak in the muon Cherenkov light profile and other Super-K observations. contribution 0.78 0.85 0.09 asserted 1.00
s10 Our results provide a physical basis for practical improvements in background rejection that will benefit multiple studies. interpretation 0.93 0.64 0.19 asserted 0.94
s11 For solar neutrinos, in particular, it should be possible to dramatically reduce backgrounds at energies as low as 6 MeV. interpretation 0.90 0.58 0.17 hedged possibility 1.00

What kind of paper the classifier reports this is: theoretical result 0.97 · evidence from proof or derivation 0.40.

What was examined, and what was not

sources read
  • arXiv listing abstract v2
not examined
  • full text
  • figures and tables
  • references and citing sentences
  • relations to other papers
levels run
  • P abstract
not run
  • S sections
  • T body sentences
  • C citations
  • R cross-paper relations

Every quoted sentence on this record is the authors'. Every label is from Pith's closed vocabulary, with the probability shown beside it. Every number in the measurements table is the authors', checked by code. Record as JSON

The paper
Original abstract

Crucial questions about solar and supernova neutrinos remain unanswered. Super-Kamiokande has the exposure needed for progress, but detector backgrounds are a limiting factor. A leading component is the beta decays of isotopes produced by cosmic-ray muons and their secondaries, which initiate nuclear spallation reactions. Cuts of events after and surrounding muon tracks reduce this spallation decay background by $\simeq 90\%$ (at a cost of $\simeq 20\%$ deadtime), but its rate at 6--18 MeV is still dominant. A better way to cut this background was suggested in a Super-Kamiokande paper [Bays {\it et al.}, Phys.~Rev.~D {\bf 85}, 052007 (2012)] on a search for the diffuse supernova neutrino background. They found that spallation decays above 16 MeV were preceded near the same location by a peak in the apparent Cherenkov light profile from the muon; a more aggressive cut was applied to a limited section of the muon track, leading to decreased background without increased deadtime. We put their empirical discovery on a firm theoretical foundation. We show that almost all spallation decay isotopes are produced by muon-induced showers and that these showers are rare enough and energetic enough to be identifiable. This is the first such demonstration for any detector. We detail how the physics of showers explains the peak in the muon Cherenkov light profile and other Super-K observations. Our results provide a physical basis for practical improvements in background rejection that will benefit multiple studies. For solar neutrinos, in particular, it should be possible to dramatically reduce backgrounds at energies as low as 6 MeV.

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References
How the literature uses it

19 arXiv papers cite this in 37 sentences

Each citing sentence is taken from the citing paper's LaTeX source and typed by Pith's classifier. A label appears at probability 0.8 or more (0.95 for support), a contest at 0.7 or more; the quoted words are the citing authors'. How each label was checked · JSON

Papers citing it · 25 sentences without a confident label

Builds on it 1 paper
Uses its data or values 1 paper
Compares with it 1 paper
Cites it as background 7 papers

What it cites · 2 sentences without a confident label

Uses the method or tool of 1 paper
  • We use the particle transport code FLUKA [ref] (version 2011.2b.6) for our calculations, which has been used extensively for simulating muon-induced backgrounds in underground detectors [ref] .

    Study of Cosmogenic Neutron Backgrounds at LNGS · Introduction · 1.00

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