Tau Neutrino Flux Research Articles

Tau neutrinos from ultracompact dark matter minihalos and constraints on the primordial curvature perturbations

The observations and research on the neutrinos provide a kind of indirect way of revealing the properties of dark matter particles. For the detection of muon neutrinos, the main issue is the large atmospheric background, which is caused by the interactions between the cosmic rays and atoms within the atmosphere. Compared with muon neutrinos, tau neutrinos have a smaller atmospheric background especially for the downward-going direction. Except for the classical neutrino sources, dark matter particles can also annihilate into the neutrinos and are the potential high energy astrophysical sources. The annihilation rate of dark matter particles is proportional to the square of number density; therefore, the annihilation rate is large near the center of dark matter halos especially for the new kind of dark matter structures named ultracompact dark matter minihalos (UCMHs). In previous works, we have investigated the potential muon neutrino flux from UCMHs due to dark matter annihilation. Moreover, since the formation of UCMHs is related to the primordial density perturbations of small scales, we get the constraints on the amplitude of the primordial curvature perturbations of small scales, $1 \lesssim k \lesssim 10^{7} ~\rm Mpc^{-1}$. In this work, we focus on the downward-going tau neutrinos from UCMHs due to dark matter annihilation. Compared with the background of tau neutrino flux we get the constraints on the mass fraction of UCMHs. Then using the limits on the mass fraction of UCMHs we got the constraints on the amplitude of the primordial curvature perturbations which are extended to the scale $k \sim 10^{8} ~ \rm Mpc^{-1}$ compared with previous results.

Prompt atmospheric neutrino flux in perturbative QCD and its theoretical uncertainties

Using the most recent PDFs and the cosmic ray spectrum, we evaluate the charm/bottom induced prompt atmospheric muon neutrino fluxes including nuclear corrections. We investigate their impact in perturbative QCD and estimate the comprehensive uncertainties from other various factors. The prompt atmospheric tau neutrino fluxes are also presented.

Effects of Majorana physics on the UHE nu _{tau } flux traversing the Earth

We study the effects produced by sterile Majorana neutrinos on the nu _{tau } flux traversing the Earth, considering the interaction between the Majorana neutrinos and the standard matter as modeled by an effective theory. The surviving tau-neutrino flux is calculated using transport equations including Majorana neutrino production and decay. We compare our results with the pure Standard Model interactions, computing the surviving flux for different values of the effective lagrangian couplings, considering the detected flux by IceCube for an operation time of 10 years, and Majorana neutrinos with mass m_N thicksim m_{tau }.

Detection of ultra-high-energy neutrinos by IceCube: sterile neutrino scenario

The short-baseline neutrino oscillation experiments, the excess of radiation from the measurement of the cosmic microwave background radiation, the necessity of the nonbaryonic dark matter candidate and the depletion of the neutrino flux in IceCube all seem to hint at new physics beyond the standard model. An economical way to address these issues is to invoke the existence of sterile neutrinos. We present simple extensions of the standard model with additional three sterile neutrinos and discuss the corresponding PMNS like neutrino flavor mixing matrix. The noteworthy features of the sterile neutrino scenario advocated here is that the lightest one is almost degenerate with one of the active neutrinos, the second sterile has mass of order eV and the heaviest one is in the keV range. In the present scenario, the short baseline anomaly is explained through $\Delta m^2\sim 1\, {\rm eV^2}$, the depletion of muon neutrino flux in IceCube is explained through $\Delta m^2\sim 4.0\times 10^{-16}\, {\rm eV^2}$ and the dark matter problem is addressed through $\Delta m^2\sim 1\, {\rm keV^2}$. Our proposed mixing matrix is also compatible with the observed neutrino oscillation data. We show that the high energy muon and the tau neutrino fluxes from Gamma Ray Bursts can be depleted in IceCube by as much as 38% and 43% respectively. These substantial depletion in both muon and tau neutrino fluxes is due to their small but sizable mixing with the sterile neutrinos.

Downward-going tau neutrinos and Dark Matter

We discuss the possibility of detecting the downward-going tau neutrino flux from Dark Matter annihilation inside the Sun. In our analysis we focused on the hadronic showers produced by charged-current tau neutrino interactions followed by hadronic tau decay. We include the various sources of tau neutrino backgrounds as well as experimental sources of background due to misidentification of electron and muon events. We find that the downward–going tau neutrino signal has potentially very good prospects for Mton-scale Cherenkov detectors, if the level of misidentification of non–tau events is at the level of percent. In this case, within few years of exposure, a 5 σ significance discovery is potentially reachable for Dark Matter masses in the range from 20 to 300 GeV.

SEARCH FOR POINT-LIKE SOURCES OF ULTRA-HIGH ENERGY NEUTRINOS AT THE PIERRE AUGER OBSERVATORY AND IMPROVED LIMIT ON THE DIFFUSE FLUX OF TAU NEUTRINOS

The Surface Detector array of the Pierre Auger Observatory can detect neutrinos with energy between 10^17 eV and 10^20 eV from point-like sources across the sky south of +55 deg and north of -65 deg declinations. A search has been performed for highly inclined extensive air showers produced by the interaction of neutrinos of all flavours in the atmosphere (downward-going neutrinos), and by the decay of tau leptons originating from tau neutrinos interactions in the Earth's crust (Earth-skimming neutrinos). No candidate neutrinos have been found in data up to 2010 May 31. This corresponds to an equivalent exposure of ~3.5 years of a full surface detector array for the Earth-skimming channel and ~2 years for the downward-going channel. An improved upper limit on the diffuse flux of tau neutrinos has been derived. Upper limits on the neutrino flux from point-like sources have been derived as a function of the source declination. Assuming a differential neutrino flux k_PS E^-2 from a point-like source, 90% C.L. upper limits for k_PS at the level of ~5 x 10^-7 and 2.5 x 10^-6 GeV cm^-2 s^-1 have been obtained over a broad range of declinations from the searches of Earth-skimming and downward-going neutrinos, respectively.

Secondary atmospheric tau neutrino production

We evaluate the flux of tau neutrinos produced from the decay of pair produced taus from incident muons using a cascade equation analysis. To solve the cascade equations, our numerical result for the tau production $Z$ moment is given. Our results for the flux of tau neutrinos produced from incident muons are compared to the flux of tau neutrinos produced via oscillations and the direct prompt atmospheric tau neutrino flux. Results are given for both downward and upward going neutrinos fluxes and higher zenith angles are discussed. We conclude that the direct prompt atmospheric tau neutrino flux dominates these other atmospheric sources of tau neutrinos for neutrino energies larger than a few TeV for upward fluxes, and over a wider range of energy for downward fluxes.

Limit on the diffuse flux of ultrahigh energy tau neutrinos with the surface detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory

Data collected at the Pierre Auger Observatory are used to establish an upper limit on the diffuse flux of tau neutrinos in the cosmic radiation. Earth-skimming ντ may interact in the Earth’s crust and produce a τ lepton by means of charged-current interactions. The τ lepton may emerge from the Earth and decay in the atmosphere to produce a nearly horizontal shower with a typical signature, a persistent electromagnetic component even at very large atmospheric depths. The search procedure to select events induced by τ decays against the background of normal showers induced by cosmic rays is described. The method used to compute the exposure for a detector continuously growing with time is detailed. Systematic uncertainties in the exposure from the detector, the analysis, and the involved physics are discussed. No τ neutrino candidates have been found. For neutrinos in the energy range 2×1017 eV<Eν<2×1019 eV, assuming a diffuse spectrum of the form Eν−2, data collected between 1 January 2004 and 30 April 2008 yield a 90% confidence-level upper limit of Eν2dNντ/dEν<9×10−8 GeV cm−2 s−1 sr−1.2 MoreReceived 2 March 2009DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.79.102001©2009 American Physical Society

Upper limit on the diffuse flux of UHE tau neutrinos

The Pierre Auger Observatory has been designed to study the cosmic rays of ultra-high energy by observing extensive atmospheric showers. It also has the capability of detecting ultra-high energy neutrinos by searching for very inclined showers with a significant electromagnetic component. The surface detector array of the Pierre Auger Observatory is sensitive to Earth-skimming tau-neutrinos ν τ that interact in the Earth's crust. For neutrinos in the energy range 2 × 10 17 eV E ν 2 × 10 19 eV , assuming a diffuse spectrum of the form E ν − 2 , data collected between 1 January 2004 and 31 August 2007 yield a 90% confidence-level upper limit on the diffuse ν τ flux of E ν 2 d N ν τ / d E ν 1.3 × 10 − 7 GeV cm − 2 s − 1 sr − 1 .

Diffuse neutrino flux from supernovae: Upper limit on the electron neutrino component from the nonobservation of antineutrinos at SuperKamiokande

I derive an upper bound on the electron neutrino component of the diffuse supernova neutrino flux from the constraint on the antineutrino component at SuperKamiokande. The connection between antineutrino and neutrino channels is due to the similarity of the muon and tau neutrino and antineutrino fluxes produced in a supernova, and to the conversion of these species into electron neutrinos and antineutrinos inside the star. The limit on the electron neutrino flux is 5.5 cm^-2 s^-1 above 19.3 MeV of neutrino energy, and is stronger than the direct limit from Mont Blanc by three orders of magnitude. It represents the minimal sensitivity required at future direct searches, and is intriguingly close to the reach of the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) and of the ICARUS experiment. The electron neutrino flux will have a lower bound if the electron antineutrino flux is measured. Indicatively, the first can be smaller than the second at most by a factor of 2-3 depending on the details of the neutrino spectra at production.

Ultra high energy tau-neutrinos and fluorescence detectors: A phenomenological approach

We investigate the possibility of detecting ultra-high energy cosmic tau-neutrinos by means of a process involving a double extensive air shower, the so-called double-bang phenomenon. In this process a primary tau-neutrino interacts with an atmospheric quark creating a hadronic extensive air shower that contains a tau which subsequently decays creating a second extensive air shower. The number of these events strongly depends on the cross section and on the flux of ultra-high energy tau-neutrinos arriving at the Earth’s atmosphere. We estimate the potential of optical detectors to observe double-bang events induced by tau-neutrinos with energies of about 1 EeV whose detection may confirm the maximal mixing observed in the atmospheric neutrinos also for ultra-high energy neutrinos, and give information on the neutrino flux and cross-section. For neutrino–nucleon standard model extrapolated cross-section and thick source model of flux (MPR), we estimate an event rate of 0.48 y −1 for an observatory with two fluorescence detectors with 90% efficiency in the neutrino energy range 0.5 < E ν < 5 EeV.

A semi-analytic calculation on the atmospheric tau neutrino flux in the GeV to TeV energy range

We present a semi-analytic calculation on the atmospheric tau neutrino flux in the GeV to TeV energy range. The atmospheric ν τ flux is calculated for the entire zenith angle range. This flux is contributed by the oscillations of muon neutrinos coming from the two-body π and K decays and the three-body μ ± decays, and the intrinsic tau neutrino flux surviving the oscillations. The uncertainties in our calculations are discussed in detail. The implications of our result are also discussed.

Tau neutrino astronomy in GeV energies

We point out the opportunity of the tau neutrino astronomy for the neutrino energy E ranging between 10 GeV and 10^3 GeV. In this energy range, the intrinsic tau neutrino production is suppressed relative to the intrinsic muon neutrino production. Any sizable tau neutrino flux may thus arise because of the \nu_{\mu}\to \nu_{\tau} neutrino oscillations only. It is demonstrated that, in the presence of the neutrino oscillations, consideration of the neutrino flavor dependence in the background atmospheric neutrino flux leads to the drastically different prospects between the observation of the astrophysical muon neutrinos and that of the astrophysical tau neutrinos. Taking the galactic-plane neutrino flux as the targeted astrophysical source, we have found that the galactic-plane tau neutrino flux dominates over the atmospheric tau neutrino flux for E > 10 GeV. Hence, the galactic-plane can at least in principle be seen through the tau neutrinos with energies just greater than 10 GeV. In a sharp contrast, the galactic-plane muon neutrino flux is overwhelmed by its atmospheric background until E > 10^6 GeV.

TRACING VERY HIGH ENERGY TAU NEUTRINOS FROM COSMOLOGICAL SOURCES IN ICE

Astrophysical sources of ultrahigh energy neutrinos yield tau neutrino fluxes due to neutrino oscillations. We study in detail the contribution of tau neutrinos with energies above 106 GeV relative to the contribution of the other flavors. We consider several different initial neutrino fluxes and include tau neutrino regeneration in transit through the Earth and energy loss of charged leptons. We discuss signals of tau neutrinos in detectors such as IceCube, RICE and ANITA.

On possibility of the tau neutrino astronomy in GeV energies

We discuss the possibility of searching the galactic-plane tau neutrinos in GeV energies.

Search for neutrino-induced cascades with AMANDA

We report on a search for electro-magnetic and/or hadronic showers (cascades) induced by high-energy neutrinos in the data collected with the AMANDA II detector during the year 2000. The observed event rates are consistent with the expectations for atmospheric neutrinos and muons. We place upper limits on a diffuse flux of extraterrestrial electron, tau and muon neutrinos. A flux of neutrinos with a spectrum Φ∝E−2 which consists of an equal mix of all flavors, is limited to E2Φ(E)=8.6×10−7 GeVcm−2s−1sr−1 at a 90% confidence level for a neutrino energy range 50 TeV to 5 PeV. We present bounds for specific extraterrestrial neutrino flux predictions. Several of these models are ruled out.

GeV to TeV astrophysical tau neutrinos

Neutrinos with energy greater than GeV are copiously produced in the p(A,p) interactions occurring in several astrophysical sites such as (i) the Earth atmosphere, (ii) our galactic plane as well as in (iii) the galaxy clusters. A comparison of the tau and mu neutrino flux in the presence of neutrino oscillations from these three representative astrophysical sites is presented. It is pointed out that the non-atmospheric tau neutrino flux starts dominating over the downward going atmospheric tau neutrino flux for neutrino energy E as low as ∼10GeV. This energy value is much lower than the energy value, E⩾5×104GeV, estimated for the dominance of the non-atmospheric mu neutrino flux, in the presence of neutrino oscillations. Future prospects for possible observations of non-atmospheric tau neutrino flux are briefly mentioned.

ATMOSPHERIC AND GALACTIC TAU NEUTRINOS

Neutrinos with energy greater than GeV are copiously produced in the p(A,p) interactions occurring in the earth atmosphere and in our galactic plane. A comparison of the tau and mu neutrino flux in the presence of neutrino oscillations from these two astrophysical sites is presented. It is pointed out that the galactic plane tau neutrino flux dominates over the downward going atmospheric tau neutrino flux at much lower energy value than that for the dominance of the mu neutrino flux from these two sites. Future prospects for possible observations of galactic tau neutrino flux are also briefly mentioned.

WHAT DO WE MEAN BY DETECTING EARTH-SKIMMING NEUTRINOS?

In this talk, we elaborate the strategy for detecting the Earth-skimming tau neutrinos. We first show that there are non-negligible astrophysical tau neutrino fluxes due to neutrino flavor oscillations. We then illustrate the idea of detecting Earth-skimming tau neutrinos. In particular, we point out that the tau-lepton flux resulting from neutrino-nucleon scatterings inside the earth is controlled by the tau-lepton range. We demonstrate this observation by showing the tau-lepton flux induced by the GZK tau-neutrino flux. The question on the energy resolutions of tau neutrinos in this detection strategy is briefly discussed.

The high-energy galactic tau neutrino flux and its atmospheric background

We compare the tau neutrino flux arising from the galaxy and the earth atmosphere for $10^{3} \leq E/{GeV} \leq 10^{11}$. The intrinsic and oscillated tau neutrino fluxes from both sources are considered. We find that, for $E\geq 10^3$ GeV, the oscillated $\nu_{\tau}$ flux along the galactic plane dominates over the maximal intrinsic atmospheric $\nu_{\tau}$ flux, i.e., the flux along the horizontal direction. We also briefly comment on the prospects for observing these high-energy tau neutrinos.