Calculation of the Cherenkov light yield from low energetic secondary particles accompanying high-energy muons in ice and water with Geant 4 simulations

In this work we investigate and parameterize the amount and angular distribution of Cherenkov photons, which are generated by low-energy secondary particles (typically

\lesssim 500

\,MeV), which accompany a muon track in water or ice. These secondary particles originate from small energy loss processes. We investigate the contributions of the different energy loss processes as a function of the muon energy and the maximum transferred energy. For the calculation of the angular distribution we have developed a generic transformation method, which allows us to derive the angular distribution of Cherenkov photons for an arbitrary distribution of track directions and their velocities.

Neutrino telescope
Cherenkov light
Geant4
Muon propagation
radiation: Cherenkov
photon: yield
muon: energy
muon: tracks
photon: angular distribution
energy loss

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