Fluxes of atmospheric muons underwater depending on the small-x gluon density

Abstract

The prompt muon contribution to the deep-sea atmospheric muon flux can serve as a tool for probing into the small-x feature of the gluon density inside of a nucleon, if the muon energy threshold could be lifted to 100 TeV. The prompt muon flux underwater is calculated taking into consideration predictions of recent charm production models in which the small-x behaviour of the gluon distribution is probed. We discuss the possibility of distinguishing the PQCD models of the charm production differing in the small-x exponent of the gluon distribution, in measurements of the muon flux at energies 10-100 TeV with neutrino telescopes.