Measurement of the cosmic muon flux at the Stawell Underground Physics Laboratory

G. Fu; M. Mews; F. Scutti; P. Urquijo; E. Barberio; V. Bashu; L.J. Bignell; I. Bolognino; A. Cools; F. Dastgiri; A.R. Duffy; L. Einfalt; M. Froehlich; T. Fruth; M. Gerathy; M. Hancock; R. James; S. Kapoor; S. Krishnan; G.J. Lane; K.T. Leaver; D. Marcantonio; P. McGee; J. McKenzie; L. McKie; M.A. McLean; P.C. McNamara; L.J. Milligan; K.J. Rule; Z. Slavkovská; O. Stanley; A.E. Stuchbery; B. Suerfu; G.N. Taylor; E. van der Velden; A.G. Williams; Y. Xing; Y.Y. Zhong

doi:10.1016/j.astropartphys.2026.103240

Measurement of the cosmic muon flux at the Stawell Underground Physics Laboratory

G. Fu
, M. Mews
, F. Scutti^*
, P. Urquijo
, E. Barberio
, V. Bashu
, L.J. Bignell
, I. Bolognino
, A. Cools
, F. Dastgiri
, A.R. Duffy
, L. Einfalt
, M. Froehlich
, T. Fruth
, M. Gerathy
, M. Hancock
, R. James
, S. Kapoor
, S. Krishnan
, G.J. Lane

K.T. Leaver, D. Marcantonio, P. McGee, J. McKenzie, L. McKie, M.A. McLean, P.C. McNamara, L.J. Milligan, K.J. Rule, Z. Slavkovská, O. Stanley, A.E. Stuchbery, B. Suerfu, G.N. Taylor, E. van der Velden, A.G. Williams, Y. Xing, Y.Y. Zhong

^*Corresponding author for this work

Physics and Astronomy

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

We report the first measurement of the underground cosmic muon flux at the Stawell Underground Physics Laboratory. The measurement uses eight EJ200 plastic scintillator panels, equipped with Hamamatsu R13089 PMT pairs at the ends, which are the primary components of the muon veto system for the upcoming SABRE South experiment. This study uses approximately 236 days of data collected between 2024 and 2025, with the muon veto system arranged in a telescopic configuration. SUPL, located 1025 metres below ground at the Stawell Gold Mine in Victoria, Australia, has a flat overburden of approximately 2.8 km of water equivalent, which significantly reduces the muon flux. The overburden is well characterised through data collected by the mining company, allowing tight constraints on systematic uncertainties. The measured muon flux is f = (6.33 ± 0.04_stat ± 0.35_sys) × 10⁻⁸ [s⁻¹ × cm⁻²]. This measurement is in excellent agreement with simulations, with a relative uncertainty an order of magnitude smaller than the modelling uncertainty.

Original language	English
Article number	103240
Number of pages	13
Journal	Astroparticle Physics
Volume	179
Early online date	1 Apr 2026
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.astropartphys.2026.103240
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 1 Apr 2026

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2026 The Authors

Keywords

Dark matter searches
Muon detectors
SABRE south experiment
Stawell Underground Physics Laboratory (SUPL)
Underground muon flux measurement

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Astronomy and Astrophysics

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Fu, G., Mews, M., Scutti, F., Urquijo, P., Barberio, E., Bashu, V., Bignell, L. J., Bolognino, I., Cools, A., Dastgiri, F., Duffy, A. R., Einfalt, L., Froehlich, M., Fruth, T., Gerathy, M., Hancock, M., James, R., Kapoor, S., Krishnan, S., ... Zhong, Y. Y. (2026). Measurement of the cosmic muon flux at the Stawell Underground Physics Laboratory. Astroparticle Physics, 179, Article 103240. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.astropartphys.2026.103240

@article{5b7777694bcd46f196cdd70b0fe35d70,

title = "Measurement of the cosmic muon flux at the Stawell Underground Physics Laboratory",

abstract = "We report the first measurement of the underground cosmic muon flux at the Stawell Underground Physics Laboratory. The measurement uses eight EJ200 plastic scintillator panels, equipped with Hamamatsu R13089 PMT pairs at the ends, which are the primary components of the muon veto system for the upcoming SABRE South experiment. This study uses approximately 236 days of data collected between 2024 and 2025, with the muon veto system arranged in a telescopic configuration. SUPL, located 1025 metres below ground at the Stawell Gold Mine in Victoria, Australia, has a flat overburden of approximately 2.8 km of water equivalent, which significantly reduces the muon flux. The overburden is well characterised through data collected by the mining company, allowing tight constraints on systematic uncertainties. The measured muon flux is f = (6.33 ± 0.04stat ± 0.35sys) × 10−8 [s−1 × cm−2]. This measurement is in excellent agreement with simulations, with a relative uncertainty an order of magnitude smaller than the modelling uncertainty.",

keywords = "Dark matter searches, Muon detectors, SABRE south experiment, Stawell Underground Physics Laboratory (SUPL), Underground muon flux measurement",

author = "G. Fu and M. Mews and F. Scutti and P. Urquijo and E. Barberio and V. Bashu and L.J. Bignell and I. Bolognino and A. Cools and F. Dastgiri and A.R. Duffy and L. Einfalt and M. Froehlich and T. Fruth and M. Gerathy and M. Hancock and R. James and S. Kapoor and S. Krishnan and G.J. Lane and K.T. Leaver and D. Marcantonio and P. McGee and J. McKenzie and L. McKie and M.A. McLean and P.C. McNamara and L.J. Milligan and K.J. Rule and Z. Slavkovsk{\'a} and O. Stanley and A.E. Stuchbery and B. Suerfu and G.N. Taylor and \{van der Velden\}, E. and A.G. Williams and Y. Xing and Y.Y. Zhong",

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doi = "10.1016/j.astropartphys.2026.103240",

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Fu, G, Mews, M, Scutti, F, Urquijo, P, Barberio, E, Bashu, V, Bignell, LJ, Bolognino, I, Cools, A, Dastgiri, F, Duffy, AR, Einfalt, L, Froehlich, M, Fruth, T, Gerathy, M, Hancock, M, James, R, Kapoor, S, Krishnan, S, Lane, GJ, Leaver, KT, Marcantonio, D, McGee, P, McKenzie, J, McKie, L, McLean, MA, McNamara, PC, Milligan, LJ, Rule, KJ, Slavkovská, Z, Stanley, O, Stuchbery, AE, Suerfu, B, Taylor, GN, van der Velden, E, Williams, AG, Xing, Y & Zhong, YY 2026, 'Measurement of the cosmic muon flux at the Stawell Underground Physics Laboratory', Astroparticle Physics, vol. 179, 103240. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.astropartphys.2026.103240

TY - JOUR

T1 - Measurement of the cosmic muon flux at the Stawell Underground Physics Laboratory

AU - Fu, G.

AU - Mews, M.

AU - Scutti, F.

AU - Urquijo, P.

AU - Barberio, E.

AU - Bashu, V.

AU - Bignell, L.J.

AU - Bolognino, I.

AU - Cools, A.

AU - Dastgiri, F.

AU - Duffy, A.R.

AU - Einfalt, L.

AU - Froehlich, M.

AU - Fruth, T.

AU - Gerathy, M.

AU - Hancock, M.

AU - James, R.

AU - Kapoor, S.

AU - Krishnan, S.

AU - Lane, G.J.

AU - Leaver, K.T.

AU - Marcantonio, D.

AU - McGee, P.

AU - McKenzie, J.

AU - McKie, L.

AU - McLean, M.A.

AU - McNamara, P.C.

AU - Milligan, L.J.

AU - Rule, K.J.

AU - Slavkovská, Z.

AU - Stanley, O.

AU - Stuchbery, A.E.

AU - Suerfu, B.

AU - Taylor, G.N.

AU - van der Velden, E.

AU - Williams, A.G.

AU - Xing, Y.

AU - Zhong, Y.Y.

PY - 2026/4/1

Y1 - 2026/4/1

N2 - We report the first measurement of the underground cosmic muon flux at the Stawell Underground Physics Laboratory. The measurement uses eight EJ200 plastic scintillator panels, equipped with Hamamatsu R13089 PMT pairs at the ends, which are the primary components of the muon veto system for the upcoming SABRE South experiment. This study uses approximately 236 days of data collected between 2024 and 2025, with the muon veto system arranged in a telescopic configuration. SUPL, located 1025 metres below ground at the Stawell Gold Mine in Victoria, Australia, has a flat overburden of approximately 2.8 km of water equivalent, which significantly reduces the muon flux. The overburden is well characterised through data collected by the mining company, allowing tight constraints on systematic uncertainties. The measured muon flux is f = (6.33 ± 0.04stat ± 0.35sys) × 10−8 [s−1 × cm−2]. This measurement is in excellent agreement with simulations, with a relative uncertainty an order of magnitude smaller than the modelling uncertainty.

AB - We report the first measurement of the underground cosmic muon flux at the Stawell Underground Physics Laboratory. The measurement uses eight EJ200 plastic scintillator panels, equipped with Hamamatsu R13089 PMT pairs at the ends, which are the primary components of the muon veto system for the upcoming SABRE South experiment. This study uses approximately 236 days of data collected between 2024 and 2025, with the muon veto system arranged in a telescopic configuration. SUPL, located 1025 metres below ground at the Stawell Gold Mine in Victoria, Australia, has a flat overburden of approximately 2.8 km of water equivalent, which significantly reduces the muon flux. The overburden is well characterised through data collected by the mining company, allowing tight constraints on systematic uncertainties. The measured muon flux is f = (6.33 ± 0.04stat ± 0.35sys) × 10−8 [s−1 × cm−2]. This measurement is in excellent agreement with simulations, with a relative uncertainty an order of magnitude smaller than the modelling uncertainty.

KW - Dark matter searches

KW - Muon detectors

KW - SABRE south experiment

KW - Stawell Underground Physics Laboratory (SUPL)

KW - Underground muon flux measurement

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105034613061

U2 - 10.1016/j.astropartphys.2026.103240

DO - 10.1016/j.astropartphys.2026.103240

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:105034613061

SN - 0927-6505

VL - 179

JO - Astroparticle Physics

JF - Astroparticle Physics

M1 - 103240

ER -

Measurement of the cosmic muon flux at the Stawell Underground Physics Laboratory

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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