Muons traversing matter
When muons travel trough matter they interact with the atoms which make up the material. In this process, muons deposit part of their energy and can even be stopped altogether. The amount of lost energy depends on several parameters, among them the thickness and the density of the material.
The interaction of muons with matter can be probed by placing different materials with varying thickness above the muondetector. The rate as well as the amount of energy deposited in the muondetector will help us learn about the interaction of muons with matter. Most notably, we can verify the theoretical predictions given by e.g. the Bethe-Bloch formula.
Did you know?
The stopping power of different materials can be described by the Bethe-Bloch formula which finds application in the theoretical description of many physics experiments. You can read up on the relevant ideas of the Bethe-Bloch formula in our Mediawiki.