The influence of the geomagnetic field and of the uncertainties in the primary spectrum on the development of the muon flux in the atmosphere

In this paper we study the sensitivity of the flux of atmospheric muons to uncertainties in the primary cosmic ray spectrum and to the treatment of the geomagnetic field in a calculation. We use the air shower simulation program AIRES to make the calculation for two different primary spectra and under several approximations to the propagation of charged particles in the geomagnetic field. The results illustrate the importance of accurate modelling of the geomagnetic field effects. We propose a high and a low fit of the proton and helium fluxes, and calculate the muon fluxes with these different inputs. Comparison with measurements of the muon flux by the CAPRICE experiment shows a slight preference for the higher primary cosmic ray flux parametrization.