Cosmic ray studies with the MINOS detectors

The MINOS experiment uses two layered scintillator and steel detectors along with a muon neutrino beam to search for νμ disappearance, and thus neutrino oscillations. The Far Detector ('FD') is situated in a former iron mine in the Soudan Underground Mine State Park in Northeastern MN, 700 m (2070 mwe) below the surface. This 5.4 kt steel/scintillator calorimeter measures the neutrino flux after they have traveled the 735 km baseline. It also detects atmospheric neutrinos at a rate of several per week, and is the first magnetized atmospheric neutrino detector, able to discriminate between νμ and νμ on an event-by-event basis. The similar 1 kt Near Detector ('ND') is 100 m (220 mwe) underground at Fermilab. This poster discusses the science being done with the high energy cosmic ray muons which penetrate the rock overburden and are seen by the detectors. The typical surface energy of those seen at the FD are ∼1 TeV (coming from ∼8 TeV primary cosmic rays) and ∼110 GeV at the ND (∼900 GeV primaries).