2019/07/31 by Spencer Axani, Axani, Spencer N. · 3 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena #Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena #FOS: Physical sciences #High Energy Physics - Experiment (hep-ex) #Instrumentation and Detectors (physics.ins-det) #Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies #Physics Education (physics.ed-ph)
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1908.00146
openalex publication_date 2019/07/31 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The CosmicWatch Desktop Muon Detector is a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Polish National Centre for Nuclear Research (NCBJ) based undergraduate-level physics project that incorporates various aspects of electronics-shop technical development. The detector was designed to be low-power and extremely portable, which opens up a wide range of physics for students to explore. This document describes the physics behind the Desktop Muon Detectors and explores possible measurements that can be made with the detectors. In particular, we explore various physical phenomena associated with the geomagnetic field, atmospheric conditions, cosmic ray shower composition, attenuation of particles in matter, radioactivity, and statistical properties of Poisson processes.