Abstract
The cosmic ray flux at the lowest energies, $\ensuremath{\lesssim}10\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{GeV}$, is modulated by the solar cycle, inducing a time variation that is expected to carry over into the atmospheric neutrino flux at these energies. Here we estimate this time variation of the atmospheric neutrino flux at five prospective underground locations for multitonne scale dark matter detectors (CJPL, Kamioka, LNGS, SNOlab, and SURF). We find that between solar minimum and solar maximum, the normalization of the flux changes by $\ensuremath{\sim}30%$ at a high-latitude location such as SURF, while it changes by a smaller amount, $\ensuremath{\lesssim}10%$, at LNGS. A dark matter detector that runs for a period extending through solar cycles will be most effective at identifying this time variation. This opens the possibility to distinguish such neutrino-induced nuclear recoils from dark matter-induced nuclear recoils, thus allowing for the possibility of using timing information to break through the ``neutrino floor.''
Highlights
Dark matter detection experiments will soon be sensitive to neutrinos from the Sun, supernovae, and the atmosphere [1,2]
We focus on the time-dependence of the atmospheric neutrino flux due to solar modulation, and quantify this time variation at five possible detector locations, including the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS) and the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF)
We describe the modifications and additions to CORSIKA that are required for our analysis, and present the estimates for the neutrino flux and the time variation at each detector location
Summary
Dark matter detection experiments will soon be sensitive to neutrinos from the Sun, supernovae, and the atmosphere [1,2]. The systematic uncertainty on the solar neutrino event rate has been a subject of numerous studies [3], including studies of its time-dependence [4] and possible contributions from physics beyond the standard model [5,6] Understanding these systematics is especially important considering that xenon experiments are approaching sensitivity to the 8B component of the solar neutrino flux [7]. SK is sensitive to charged current interactions, and is able to distinguish between flavors due to the nature of the events produced in the detector These results provide a measurement of the neutrino flux down to energies ≳100 MeV.
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