Ultra-high Energy Neutrino Interactions Research Articles

High-Energy to Ultrahigh-Energy Neutrino Interactions

The cross sections for neutrino interactions with nucleons have been measured directly in accelerator experiments and through the zenith-angle and energy dependence of neutrino events at the IceCube Neutrino Observatory. Fluxes of high-energy neutrinos are produced at the Large Hadron Collider and by cosmic rays in the atmosphere. High-energy neutrinos also come from astrophysical and cosmic sources. The theory of neutrino interactions is reviewed. Current cross-section measurements and prospects for the future are discussed. The focus here is on neutrino interactions for energies larger than 1 TeV.

Probing quantum gravity with elastic interactions of ultrahigh-energy neutrinos

The next generation of radio telescopes will be sensitive to low-scale quantum gravity by measuring ultrahigh-energy neutrinos. In this work, we demonstrate for the first time that neutrino-nucleon soft interactions induced by TeV-scale gravity would significantly increase the number of events detected by the IceCube-Gen2 radio array in the EeV regime. However, we show that these experiments cannot measure the total cross section using only the angular and energy information of the neutrino flux, unless assumptions on the underlying inelasticity distribution of neutral interactions are made.

A search for ultrahigh-energy neutrinos associated with astrophysical sources using the third flight of ANITA

The ANtarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna (ANITA) long-duration balloon experiment is sensitive to interactions of ultrahigh-energy (E>1018 eV) neutrinos in the Antarctic ice sheet. The third flight of ANITA, lasting 22 days, began in December 2014. We develop a methodology to search for energetic neutrinos spatially and temporally coincident with potential source classes in ANITA data. This methodology is applied to several source classes: the potential IceCube-identified neutrino sources TXS 0506+056 and NGC 1068, flaring high-energy blazars reported by the Fermi All-Sky Variability Analysis, gamma-ray bursts, and supernovae. Among searches within the five source classes, one candidate was identified as associated with SN 2015D, although not at a statistically significant level. We proceed to place upper limits on the source classes. We further comment on potential application of this methodology to more sensitive future instruments.

Connecting ANITA anomalous events to a nonthermal dark matter scenario

The ANtarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna (ANITA) collaboration has observed two EeV-energy, upward going events originating from below the horizon. As no standard model (SM) particles, propagating through the earth at such energy and exit angles, can give rise to the required survival probability for the observed events, several beyond standard model (BSM) proposals have come up. We propose a scenario where a $Z_2$ odd sector is responsible for such anomalous events. The next to lightest $Z_2$ odd particle or the next to lightest stable particle (NLSP), created from ultra high energy neutrino interactions with nucleons, can pass through the earth and then decay into the lightest $Z_2$ odd particle or the lightest stable particle (LSP) and a tau lepton. The long-lived nature of the NLSP requires its coupling with the LSP to be very small, keeping the LSP out of thermal equilibrium in the early universe. The LSP can then be a non-thermal dark matter while the tau leptons produced from NLSP decay after passing through the earth can explain the ANITA events. We first show that a purely non-thermal dark matter scenario can not give rise to the required event rates while a hybrid scenario where dark matter can have both thermal as a well non-thermal contribution to its relic abundance, serves the purpose.

Observation of Radar Echoes from High-Energy Particle Cascades.

We report the observation of radar echoes from the ionization trails of high-energy particle cascades. Data were taken at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, where the full electron beam (∼10^{9} e^{-} at ∼10 GeV/e^{-}) was directed into a plastic target to simulate an ultrahigh-energy neutrino interaction. The target was interrogated with radio waves, and coherent radio reflections from the cascades were detected with properties consistent with theoretical expectations. This is the first definitive observation of radar echoes from high-energy particle cascades, which may lead to a viable neutrino detection technology for energies ≳10^{16} eV.

The simulation of the sensitivity of the Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna (ANITA) to Askaryan radiation from cosmogenic neutrinos interacting in the Antarctic Ice

A Monte Carlo simulation program for the radio detection of Ultra High Energy (UHE) neutrino interactions in the Antarctic ice as viewed by the Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna (ANITA) is described in this article. The program, icemc, provides an input spectrum of UHE neutrinos, the parametrization of the Askaryan radiation generated by their interaction in the ice, and the propagation of the radiation through ice and air to a simulated model of the third and fourth ANITA flights. This paper provides an overview of the icemc simulation, descriptions of the physics models used and of the ANITA electronics processing chain, data/simulation comparisons to validate the predicted performance, and a summary of the impact of published results.

Acoustic detection of neutrinos in bedrock

We propose to utilize bedrock as a medium for acoustic detection of particle showers following interactions of ultra-high energy neutrinos. With the density of rock three-times larger and the speed of sound four-times larger compared to water, the amplitude of the generated bipolar pressure pulse in rock should be larger by an order of magnitude. Our preliminary simulations confirm that prediction. Higher density of rock also guarantees higher interaction rate for neutrinos. A noticeably longer attenuation length in rock reduces signal dissipation. The Pyhäsalmi mine has a unique infrastructure and rock conditions to test this idea and, if successful, extend it to a full-size experiment.

Acoustic parametric techniques for neutrino telescopes

In this work, we present a compact transmitter array based on the parametric acoustic sources effect able to reproduce the acoustic signature of an Ultra-High Energy neutrino interaction in water. We also propose to use directive transducers employing the parametric technique for the characterization of piezo-ceramic sensors contained in the KM3NeT Digital Optical Modules. This technique can minimize the need for tests in an anechoic tank.

Do leptoquarks manifest themselves in ultra-high energy neutrino interactions?

It is assumed that neutrino-nucleon scattering at ultra-high energies effectively proceeds through excitations of leptoquarks in neutrino-quark subprocesses. This approach reproduces the behavior of the energy dependence of the ultra-high energy neutrino-nucleon scattering cross sections and allows to estimate masses as well as the decay widths of the involved leptoquarks. For instance, this leads to the leptoquark mass $1353\pm230$ GeV in a way independent on the leptoquark quantum numbers. The discovery potential of the LHC for the leptoquarks is evaluated.

Calculations of electric fields for radio detection of ultrahigh energy particles

The detection of electromagnetic pulses from high energy showers is used as a means to search for Ultra-High Energy cosmic ray and neutrino interactions. An approximate formula has been obtained to numerically evaluate the radio pulse emitted by a charged particle that instantaneously accelerates, moves at constant speed along a straight track and halts again instantaneously. The approximate solution is applied to the particle track after dividing it in smaller subintervals. The resulting algorithm (often referred to as the ZHS algorithm) is also the basis for most of the simulations of the electric field produced in high energy showers in dense media. In this work, the electromagnetic pulses as predicted with the ZHS algorithm are compared to those obtained with an exact solution of the electric field produced by a charged particle track. The precise conditions that must apply for the algorithm to be valid are discussed and its accuracy is addressed. This comparison is also made for electromagnetic showers in dense media. The ZHS algorithm is shown to describe Cherenkov radiation and to be valid for most situations of interest concerning detectors searching for Ultra-High Energy neutrinos. The results of this work are also relevant for the simulation of pulses emitted from air showers.

Coherence and precision in classical systems

The Quick Study “Collaboration and precision in quantum measurement” (PHYSICS TODAY, December 2011, page 72) by Rob Sewell and Morgan Mitchell points out that some quantum mechanical coherence, “quantum collaboration” in their language, allows for the magnetization of a gas to be measured with a precision of 1/N, where N is the number of photons. For large N, 1/N is smaller than 1/√N, so improves upon the usual 1/√N measurement limit; the authors comment that for noninteracting particles, the central limit theorem precludes better classical measurements.However, coherence is not merely a quantum mechanical effect; many classical systems exhibit similar behavior. For example, one can search for ultrahigh-energy neutrino interactions in Antarctic ice by observing the coherent radio pulses emitted by the resulting particle showers. The observed electric field strength of the pulse scales as the square of the number of particles in the shower (reference 11. P. W. Gorham et al., Phys. Rev. D 72, 023002 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.72.023002; see also the article I wrote with Francis Halzen, PHYSICS TODAY, May 2008, page 29), so for a given uncertainty in field-strength measurement, the uncertainty in the number of shower particles scales as 1/N. That is purely classical electromagnetism.There are also examples of 1/N scaling without coherence. Consider a system consisting of a noninteracting gas in a reservoir at pressure P, and a small valve that controls access to a gas sensor. The best measurement of the valve’s opening time comes from the first gas molecule observed by the sensor. As one increases the pressure (number of probe molecules N), the time delay between the gate opening and the sensor decreases in a 1/N fashion. For large N, that is more accurate than finding the mean arrival time of the molecules, with an accuracy of 1/√N, and trying to correct for the average delay time.These comments are not to take anything away from the nice study by Sewell and Mitchell. However, measurements that exhibit 1/N scaling are not limited to quantum systems, and are more common than one might imagine.REFERENCESSection:ChooseTop of pageREFERENCES <<1. P. W. Gorham et al., Phys. Rev. D 72, 023002 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.72.023002, Google ScholarCrossref© 2012 American Institute of Physics.

Background studies for acoustic neutrino detection at the South Pole

The detection of acoustic signals from ultra-high energy neutrino interactions is a promising method to measure the flux of cosmogenic neutrinos expected on Earth. The energy threshold for this process depends strongly on the absolute noise level in the target material. The South Pole Acoustic Test Setup (SPATS), deployed in the upper part of four boreholes of the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, has monitored the noise in Antarctic ice at the geographic South Pole for more than two years down to 500 m depth. The noise is very stable and Gaussian distributed. Lacking an in situ calibration up to now, laboratory measurements have been used to estimate the absolute noise level in the 10–50 kHz frequency range to be smaller than 20 mPa. Using a threshold trigger, sensors of the South Pole Acoustic Test Setup registered acoustic events in the IceCube detector volume and its vicinity. Acoustic signals from refreezing IceCube holes and from anthropogenic sources have been used to test the localization of acoustic events. An upper limit on the neutrino flux at energies E ν > 10 11 GeV is derived from acoustic data taken over eight months.

Acoustic particle detection – From early ideas to future benefits

The history of acoustic neutrino detection technology is shortly reviewed from the first ideas 50 years ago to the detailed R&D programs of the last decade. The physics potential of ultra-high energy neutrino interaction studies is discussed for some examples. Ideas about the necessary detector size and suitable design are presented.

Current non-conservation effects in ultra-high energy neutrino interactions

The overall hardness scale of the ultra-high energy neutrino-nucleon interactions is usually estimated as Q 2 ∼ m 2 The effect of non-conservation of weak currents pushes this scale up to the top quark mass squared and changes dynamics of the scattering process. The Double Leading Log Approximation provides simple and numerically accurate formula for the top-bottom contribution to the total cross section σνN . Corresponding correction to σνN appears to be numerically large. It is comparable with the leading contribution evaluated in the massless quark approximation.

Čerenkov radio pulses from electromagnetic showers in the time domain

The electric field of the Cherenkov radio pulse produced by a single charged particle track in a dielectric medium is derived from first principles. An algorithm is developed to obtain the pulse in the time domain for numerical calculations. The algorithm is implemented in a Monte Carlo simulation of electromagnetic showers in dense media (specifically designed for coherent radio emission applications) as might be induced by interactions of ultra-high energy neutrinos. The coherent Cherenkov radio emission produced by such showers is obtained simultaneously both in the time and frequency domains. A consistency check performed by Fourier-transforming the pulse in time and comparing it to the frequency spectrum obtained directly in the simulations yields, as expected, fully consistent results. The reversal of the time structure inside the Cherenkov cone and the signs of the corresponding pulses are addressed in detail. The results, besides testing algorithms used for reference calculations in the frequency domain, shed new light into the properties of the radio pulse in the time domain. The shape of the pulse in the time domain is directly related to the depth development of the excess charge in the shower and its width to the observation angle with respect to the Cherenkov direction. This information can be of great practical importance for interpreting actual data.

Study of the acoustic signature of UHE neutrino interactions in water and ice

The production of acoustic signals from the interactions of ultra-high energy (UHE) cosmic ray neutrinos in water and ice has been studied. A new computationally fast and efficient method of deriving the signal is presented. This method allows the implementation of up to date parameterisations of acoustic attenuation in seawater and ice that now includes the effects of complex attenuation, where appropriate. The methods presented here have been used to compute and study the properties of the acoustic signals which would be expected from such interactions. A matrix method of parameterising the signals, which includes the expected fluctuations, is also presented. These methods are used to generate the expected signals that would be detected in acoustic UHE neutrino telescopes.

Use of parametric acoustic sources to generate neutrino-like signals

It is not easy to design a calibrator system able to reproduce the time and directivity patterns of the acoustic pulse produced in an ultra high energy neutrino interaction. Linear arrays of acoustic transducers with coherent emission have been proposed, but it might result in a long array with many elements, increasing the cost and making the deployment and operation much more complex. In this paper, we evaluate the possibility of using an alternative approach using parametric acoustic sources to generate neutrino-like signals. This non-linear acoustic effect can also be applied to transient signals allowing to generate them by a “special modulation” at a larger frequency. The technique has the advantage of being much more directive since the directivity of the parametric source is similar to that of the large frequency used, and therefore it will result in a much more compact design with fewer sources. Here, we present the studies performed with planar transducers in a tank to evaluate the possibilities of the technique, which seems very promising according to our results.

IceRay: An IceCube-centered radio-Cherenkov GZK neutrino detector

We discuss design considerations and simulation results for IceRay, a proposed large-scale ultra-high energy (UHE) neutrino detector at the South Pole. The array is designed to detect the coherent Askaryan radio emission from UHE neutrino interactions in the ice, with the goal of detecting the cosmogenic neutrino flux with reasonable event rates. Operating in coincidence with the IceCube neutrino detector would allow complete calorimetry of a subset of the events. We also report on the status of a testbed IceRay station which incorporates both ANITA and IceCube technology and will provide year-round monitoring of the radio environment at the South Pole.

Recording of ultrahigh-energy astrophysical neutrinos

This review is devoted to the problems of recording ultrahigh-energy neutrinos produced in distant astrophysical sources and during the decay of supermassive particles. Prospects for the detection of neutrino fluxes are considered based on peculiarities of the propagation and interaction of ultrahigh-energy neutrinos. The operating and planned facilities designed to investigate neutrinos from various sources are described: neutrino telescopes recording neutrino interactions in natural water and ice volumes; ground-based arrays of detectors and optical telescopes onboard orbital space stations capable of detecting neutrino-triggered horizontal air showers. Instruments based on new principles of recording neutrinos with extremely high energies are considered: radio telescopes designed to observe Cherenkov radio emission from neutrino cascades originating in such radio-transparent natural environments as the atmosphere, salt domes, ice packs, and lunar regolith; underwater acoustic detectors. It is shown that putting new facilities into operation will allow neutrinos from most of the known astrophysical sources with energies differing by more than ten orders of magnitude, from 1012 to 1022–1024 eV, to be recorded.

The sensitivity of the next generation of lunar Cherenkov observations to UHE neutrinos and cosmic rays

We present simulation results for the detection of ultra-high energy (UHE) cosmic ray (CR) and neutrino interactions in the Moon by radio-telescopes. We simulate the expected radio signal at Earth from such interactions, expanding on previous work to include interactions in the sub-regolith layer for single dish and multiple telescope systems. For previous experiments at Parkes, Goldstone (GLUE), and Kalyazin we recalculate the sensitivity to an isotropic flux of UHE neutrinos. We find the published sensitivity for the GLUE experiment to be too high (too optimistic) by an order of magnitude, and consequently the GLUE limit to be too low by an order of magnitude. Our predicted sensitivity for future experiments using the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) and the Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP) indicate these instruments will be able to detect the more optimistic UHE neutrino flux predictions, while the square kilometre array (SKA) will also be sensitive to all bar one prediction of a diffuse ‘cosmogenic’, or ‘GZK’, neutrino flux. Outstanding theoretical uncertainties at both high-frequency and low-frequency limits currently prevent a reliable estimate of the sensitivity of the lunar Cherenkov technique for UHE cosmic ray (CR) astronomy. Here, we place limits on the effects of large-scale surface roughness on UHE CR detection, and find that when near-surface ‘formation-zone’ effects are ignored, the proposed SKA low-frequency aperture array could detect CR events above 56 EeV at a rate between 15 and 40 times that of the current Pierre Auger Observatory. Should further work indicate that formation-zone effects have little impact on UHE CR sensitivity, observations of the Moon with the SKA would allow directional analysis of UHE cosmic rays, and investigation of correlations with putative cosmic ray source populations, to be conducted with very high statistics.