Single muon angular distributions observed in the LVD particle astrophysics experiment

Abstract The first angular distribution data from 5547 hours of operation of the LVD detector are presented. The technique of track reconstruction is described. A total of 452 657 single muons were reconstructed for this period. The data are acceptance corrected in our final plots. The total single muon flux (the total flux from above impinging on a sphere of unit cross sectional area) in the Gran Sasso Laboratory is 1.03 muons per hour per square meter. The total flux crossing a unit horizontal area from above is 0.79 muons per hour per square meter. The acceptance-corrected intensity at cos θ = 1 is 0.349 muons per hour per square meter per steradian (9.7× l0 − 9 muons per second per square centimeter per steradian). We present, for the first time from Gran Sasso Laboratory, data at near-horizontal zenith angles.