Upper Limit on the Diffuse Flux of Ultrahigh Energy Tau Neutrinos from the Pierre Auger Observatory

J Abraham,D Heck,S Petrera,A Zech,A Horneffer,B S Atulugama,L Nellen,V Scherini,H Gemmeke,B Keilhauer,J Oehlschläger,I Lhenry-Yvon,G Wieczorek,A F Barbosa,E Kemp,Z Szadkowski,M Prouza,P L Ghia,E Colombo,I Valiño,R Engel,A Criss,C Delle Fratte,K Arisaka,L Voyvodic,D García Gámez,A Gorgi,I Allekotte,M Videla,C Robledo,J Knapp,O Krömer,T Suomijärvi,R Sato,H Glass,J Chauvin,D Torresi,M Zavrtanik,M Risse,T Mccauley,E J Quel,J R T De Mello Neto,A Tonachini,A Curutiu,B Revenu,A Stutz,T Karova,G Cataldi,H J Mathes,A Insolia,G La Rosa,B Connolly,L Nožka,H Wilczyński,V Verzi,J J Beatty,A C Fauth,N Fazzini,E Menichetti,A Dorofeev,R Mussa,A Cordier,Y Guardincerri,T Huege,M Monasor,C J Todero Peixoto,A Chou,V De Souza,S Westerhoff,R Squartini,J Pallotta,W Fulgione,M Gómez Berisso,S J De Jong,D Rodríguez Frías,R C Shellard,C Wileman,D Nitz,R M Kieckhafer,J Sorokin,O Wainberg,J Pochon,C Hojvat,W Tkaczyk,R Bonino,S J Sciutto,R Tcaciuc,L Villaseñor,S Parlati,G Parente,A Pichel,S Ostapchenko,L Caramete,N Nierstenhoefer,C Di Giulio,C E Santo,T Pierog,R A Vázquez,D Newton,V Van Elewyck,G P Guedes,D Garcia-Pinto,S L C Barroso,J Coppens,M A Leigui De Oliveira,C Morello,B Morales,A Menschikov,N Kunka,Dong Pham Ngoc,O Blanch-Bigas,P Gouffon,A Etchegoyen,G Hebrero,K Payet,A Segreto,J Rautenberg,A Della Selva,T Hauschildt,R Cester,A Zepeda,M Pimenta,F Arneodo,G Salina,C E Fracchiolla,M Patel,M Giller,M Platino,P Bauleo,R M De Almeida,D Lebrun,M C Maccarone,J Chye,M Ziolkowski,L Del Peral,T Bäcker,M Palatka,J Takahashi,F Guarino,T Asch,F Ionita,P Petrinca,S Ferry,P Abreu,G Navarra,E Armengaud,M Boratav,S Coutu,M G Winnick,N Smetniansky De Grande,G Tristram,V Grassi,V M Olmos-Gilbaja,M C Medina,R Ticona,G Golup,H Blümer,G Matthiae,D Melo,D Tscherniakhovski,R R Mcneil,E Strazzeri,M Kaducak,R Pelayo,P Lebrun,A Haungs,P Facal San Luis,M Unger,A Creusot,M Ave,G Mancarella,P Bernardini,J L Harton,N Pacheco,R Knapik,D Monnier Ragaigne,D Nosek,F Salamida,T Bergmann,L Valore,J D Hague,A Anzalone,M I Micheletti,B Wundheiler,M Ambrosio,J F Valdés Galicia,S Reucroft,A Tamashiro,J Kleinfeller,D Harari,X Garrido,C Macolino,R Fonte,S Maldera,D Pakk Selmi-Dei,R Piegaia,C Aguirre,A C Rovero,A Tamburro,D Martello,S Harmsma,C De Donato,R Meyhandan,Y Petrov,G De La Vega,F Sarazin,A Meli,V C Holmes,T Nguyen Thi,D Maurizio,T Paul,C Lachaud,M Kleifges,D Barnhill,H R Marquez Falcon,R E Burton,H Schieler,L Perrone,E Parizot,F Arqueros,J C Dos Anjos,Tokonatsu Yamamoto ,P Younk,D Warner,H.-P Dembinski ,J Swain,R W Clay,Balázs Kégl ,H Asorey,B R Dawson,A Filevich,A Letessier‐Selvon ,R Caruso,Jeff Allen ,C Aramo,I Sidelnik,S Riggi,A S Krieger ,M Settimo,P Brogueira,J Matthews,D Zavrtanik,H Wahlberg,А Чиавасса ,M D Healy,Mónica E Manceñido ,P Buchholz,W Rodrigues De Carvalho ,M Scuderi,P Hansen,R López,S Navas,J Cronin,A Bueno,S Sarkar,H R Wu ,X Bertou,M Erdmann,B Rouillé-D’Orfeuil,Gennaro Miele ,F Contreras,S Dagoret ,A A Watson,J Aublin,Analisa Mariazzi ,Fabian Schmidt ,A López Agüera ,L Wiencke,O Pisanti,J Martínez,H Salazar,Alexander Kusenko ,S Andringa,M A Müller ,C E Covault,L Cazón ,Graciela B Gelmini ,M Sutherland ,A Tripathi,G Medina‐Tanco ,Ioana Codrina Maris ,C Newman-Holmes,G Rodríguez ,M M González ,T Beau,A Filipčǐc ,S Benzvi,N G Busca,Juan Rojo ,M Pech,Edivaldo Moura Santos ,O Mart́inez Bravo ,D Dornic,J C Moreno,B Wilczyńska,Glennys R Farrar ,P Sokolsky,Marcelo Amaral ,K.‐H Kampert ,T Schmidt,A Velarde,C Bleve,P Billoir,C Morris,P Sommers,P Clark ,Beatriz García ,A Castellina,M Bohã̌cov́a ,F Schüßler ,P Homola,J Řídký ,V Rizi,V Pirronello,I Rodríguez-Cabo ,J C Hamilton,R Gómez-Herrero ,Petr Schovánek ,I Torres,U Cotti,J L La Rosa Navarro ,A Italiano,R Šmída,Pasquale Blasi ,J Rodrı́guez Martino ,María J Ortiz ,A Śmiałkowski ,M Roth,M Mostafá,B R Becker,K S Caballero-Mora,J G González ,Denis Allard ,J J Lozano Bahilo ,C Bérat ,P Trávníc̆ek ,M Hussain,Angela V Olinto ,D Kuempel,M Gold ,W C Brown,R Conceição,T Ohnuki,D Thomas,Antonio Fernández-Aliseda Redondo ,María Teresa Dova ,G R Snow,A Veiga,C Dobrigkeit,B Cai,I Duţan ,Juan Carlos D’olivo ,J Álvarez-Muñiz ,J A Bellido,Péter Mazur ,A Schmidt,C O Escobar,P Mantsch,Flávio Rezende ,Francesc Ferrer ,P Privitera,M Santander,J A Chinellato,Andrew Smith ,W J M De Mello ,H Spinka,Esteban Roulet ,Fabrizio Ortolani ,T Pinto,D Góra,O Deligny,D D’Urso,B B Siffert,E Zas,Luis A Anchordoqui ,C Meurer ,H Geenen,M Mcewen,I Fleck,G Ávila ,P L Biermann,A D Supanitsky,R Luna García,G Sigl,J Rosado,Tonia M Venters ,Verena Tunnicliffe ,J Gutiérrez,M A Duvernois,B Tomé,C Grunfeld,K Daumiller,T Hebbeker,Jan Pękala ,J C Diaz,M Leuthold,O Catalano,A F Grillo,F Gómez Albarracin ,V Pavlidou,P Assis,D H Koang ,F Montanet,B Fick,D.v Camin ,H Falcke,J Lee,I M Pepe,L.n Epele ,D Mandat,Olaf Scholten ,Silvia Mollerach ,Lidia Ana Otero ,J Tiffenberg,H O Klages,S Vorobiov,Karl‐Heinz Becker ,R Ulrich,J R Hörandel ,Diep Pham Ngoc,M Hrabovský,I Demitri ,C Bonifazi,A M Van Den Berg,M Aglietta,O Taşcǎu ,D Veberič,D Gonzalez,M Iarlori,S Argirò,P Gonçalves,C Rivière,C Timmermans,F Sánchez,Pablo Walker ,M Urban,P Allison,B E Smith,M Tueros,G Ros,M Roberts,F Blanco,Bruno L Lago ,William H Miller ,P Nečesal ,D Badagnani,F Suárez ,D Semikoz,J Brack,M Horvat,S Pastor

doi:10.1103/physrevlett.100.211101

Abstract

The surface detector array of the Pierre Auger Observatory is sensitive to Earth-skimming tau neutrinos that interact in Earth's crust. Tau leptons from nu(tau) charged-current interactions can emerge and decay in the atmosphere to produce a nearly horizontal shower with a significant electromagnetic component. The data collected between 1 January 2004 and 31 August 2007 are used to place an upper limit on the diffuse flux of nu(tau) at EeV energies. Assuming an E(nu)(-2) differential energy spectrum the limit set at 90% C.L. is E(nu)(2)dN(nu)(tau)/dE(nu)<1.3 x 10(-7) GeV cm(-2) s(-1) sr(-1) in the energy range 2 x 10(17) eV< E(nu)< 2 x 10(19) eV.

Highlights

Upper Limit on the Diffuse Flux of Ultrahigh Energy Tau Neutrinos from the Pierre Auger Observatory
The surface detector array of the Pierre Auger Observatory is sensitive to Earth-skimming tau neutrinos that interact in Earth’s crust
The recently reported suppression of the cosmic ray flux above 4 1019 eV [6 –8] as well as the observed correlation of the highest energy cosmic rays with relatively nearby extragalactic objects [9] both point to UHE cosmic rays (UHECRs) interactions on the infrared or microwave backgrounds during extragalactic propagation