Optimizing the zenith angle dependence of cosmic ray muons from Charm particles in the knee region: simulation study

Abstract The muonic component of air showers is one of the most abundant component of charged particles arriving at the Earth’s surface, and able to penetrate deeply underground, and is very sensitive to the primary mass and energy of the initial cosmic particle. Atmospheric muons are produced in the propagation of different components of extensive air showers. Therefore, variations in the muon ratio, defined as the number of positive over negative charged muons, must be well understood. In this paper, we study the variation of the muon charge ratio of cosmic muons at different zenith angles, and we study the contribution of charm particles in producing atmospheric muons using Monte Carlo showers initiated by two cosmic primaries, proton and iron, with four energies [10 PeV, 100 PeV, 1 EeV, 10 EeV], in the zenith range of [0° to 60°].