Abstract
The scattering rate of multi-${\rm TeV}$ and ${\rm PeV}$ energy neutrinos is fast becoming an interesting topic in (astro)particle-physics. This is due to experimental progress at Neutrino Telescopes such as IceCube which have begun to gain sensitivity to the flux of neutrinos in this energy range. In view of this, a precise calculation of the scattering rate of neutrinos upon atoms is presented. The two main components of the calculation are the differential cross-section predictions for neutrino scattering upon an atomic nucleus (such as that which make up water), as well as upon atomic electrons. In the first case, the predictions for neutrino-nucleon cross-sections in charged- and neutral-current scattering are refined by including resonant contributions generated within the photon field of the nucleus, which alter the considered distributions by up to $\approx 4\%$. In the latter case, radiative corrections are provided for all $2\to2$ scattering processes of the form $\bar{\nu}_e e^-\to f\bar{f}^{\prime}$. For antineutrino energies of $E_{\bar{\nu}_e}\approx6{\rm~PeV}$, where these processes become resonantly enhanced (the Glashow resonance) and dominate the total cross-section, these corrections amount to $\approx-10\%$.
Highlights
The measurement of a flux of ultrahigh-energy (UHE) neutrinos1 at detectors on Earth is extremely important for understanding potential sources of cosmic ray accelerators in our universe
By directly computing the OðαÞ correction, that the finite corrections are numerically unimportant and have been neglected in the results presented here
For neutrino-nucleus scattering, these predictions have been improved by including the resonant contributions which are generated within the photon field of nucleus
Summary
The measurement of a flux of ultrahigh-energy (UHE) neutrinos at detectors on Earth is extremely important for understanding potential sources of cosmic ray accelerators in our universe. As neutrinos are weakly interacting, they propagate through the Universe without being deflected by magnetic fields or scattering on background photon radiation The detection of these neutrinos within large-volume detectors such as IceCube [1] provides information on their source of production, which in turn can help to identify the source(s) of UHE cosmic rays in our Universe which are expected to generate such a flux. Pffiffiffi pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi (CoM) energies of S ≈ 2meEνe ≈ mW (the Glashow resonance [7]), which is achieved for Eνe ≈ 6 PeV As this process is directly sensitive to the flux of electron antineutrinos at Earth, its measurement provides flavor separation which is invaluable for understanding the production mechanisms which source UHE neutrinos [8,9,10,11]. Technical details of the calculation are given before applying the calculations to study the following observables: the total inclusive cross section; the mean inelasticity distribution in muon production; as well as the inclusive cross section for quark production in νe þ e− collisions (with focus on the resonance region)
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