Detection of Cherenkov light emission in liquid argon

Detection of Cherenkov light emission in liquid argon has been obtained with an ICARUS prototype, during a dedicated test run at the Gran Sasso Laboratory external facility. Ionizing tracks from cosmic ray muons crossing the detector active volume have been collected in coincidence with visible light signals from a photo-multiplier (PMT) immersed in liquid argon. A 3D reconstruction of the tracks has been performed exploiting the ICARUS imaging capability. The angular distributions of the tracks triggered by the PMT signals show an evident directionality. By means of a detailed Monte Carlo simulation we show that the geometrical characteristics of the events are compatible with the hypothesis of Cherenkov light emission as the main source of the PMT signals. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.