32 research outputs found
Ultrahigh Energy Neutrinos
The ultrahigh energy neutrino cross section is well understood in the
standard model for neutrino energies up to 10 GeV. Test of neutrino
oscillations () from extragalactic sources of
neutrinos are possible with large underground detectors. Measurments of
horizontal air shower event rates at neutrino energies above 10 GeV will
be able to constrain nonstandard model contributions to the neutrino-nucleon
cross section, e.g., from mini-black hole production.Comment: 7 pages, presented at Neutrinos and Implications for Physics Beyond
the Standard Model, Stony Brook, NY, October 11-13, 200
Searching for Oscillations with Extragalactic Neutrinos
We propose a novel approach for studying oscillations
with extragalactic neutrinos. Active Galactic Nuclei and Gamma Ray Bursts are
believed to be sources of ultrahigh energy muon neutrinos. With distances of
100 Mpc or more, they provide an unusually long baseline for possible detection
of with mixing parameters down to
eV, many orders of magnitude below the current accelerator
experiments. By solving the coupled transport equations, we show that
high-energy 's, as they propagate through the earth, cascade down in
energy, producing the enhancement of the incoming flux in the low
energy region, in contrast to the high-energy 's, which get absorbed.
For an AGN quasar model we find the flux to be a factor of 2 to 2.5
larger than the incoming flux in the energy range between GeV and
GeV, while for a GRB fireball model, the enhancement is 10%-27% in the same
energy range and for zero nadir angle. This enhancement decreases with larger
nadir angle, thus providing a novel way to search for appearance by
measuring the angular dependence of the muons. To illustrate how the cascade
effect and the final flux depend on the steepness of the incoming
, we show the energy and angular distributions for several generic
cases of the incoming tau neutrino flux, for n=1,2 and
3.6. We show that for the incoming flux that is not too steep, the signal for
the appearance of high-energy is the enhanced production of lower
energy and their distinctive angular dependence, due to the contribution
from the decay into just below the detector.Comment: 11 pages, including 4 color figure
High Energy Neutrino Signals of Four Neutrino Mixing
We evaluate the upward shower and muon event rates for two characteristic
four neutrino mixing models for extragalactic neutrinos, as well as for the
atmospheric neutrinos, with energy thresholds of 1 TeV, 10 TeV and 100 TeV. We
show that by comparing the shower to muon event rates, one can distinguish
between oscillation and no-oscillation models. By measuring shower and muon
event rates for energy thresholds of 10 TeV and 100 TeV, and by considering
their ratio, it is possible to use extragalactic neutrino sources to determine
the type of four-flavor mixing pattern. We find that one to ten years of data
taking with kilometer-size detector has a very good chance of providing
valuable information about the physics beyond the Standard Model.Comment: version accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
Differential Neutrino Rates and Emissivities from the Plasma Process in Astrophysical Systems
The differential rates and emissivities of neutrino pairs from an equilibrium
plasma are calculated for the wide range of density and temperature encountered
in astrophysical systems. New analytical expressions are derived for the
differential emissivities which yield total emissivities in full agreement with
those previously calculated. The photon and plasmon pair production and
absorption kernels in the source term of the Boltzmann equation for neutrino
transport are provided. The appropriate Legendre coefficients of these kernels,
in forms suitable for multi-group flux-limited diffusion schemes are also
computed.Comment: 27 pages and 10 figures. Submitted to Phys. Rev.
The photo-neutrino process in astrophysical systems
Explicit expressions for the differential and total rates and emissivities of
neutrino pairs from the photo-neutrino process in hot and dense matter are derived. Full information about the
emitted neutrinos is retained by evaluating the squared matrix elements for
this process which was hitherto bypassed through the use of Lenard's identity
in obtaining the total neutrino emissivities. Accurate numerical results are
presented for widely varying conditions of temperature and density. Analytical
results helpful in understanding the qualitative behaviors of the rates and
emissivities in limiting situations are derived. The corresponding production
and absorption kernels in the source term of the Boltzmann equation for
neutrino transport are developed. The appropriate Legendre coefficients of
these kernels, in forms suitable for multigroup flux-limited diffusion schemes
are also provided.Comment: 26 pages and 7 figures. Version as accepted in Phys. Rev. D; three
figures and related discussion revise
On Black Hole Detection with the OWL/Airwatch Telescope
In scenarios with large extra dimensions and TeV scale gravity ultrahigh
energy neutrinos produce black holes in their interactions with the nucleons.
We show that ICECUBE and OWL may observe large number of black hole events and
provide valuable information about the fundamental Planck scale and the number
of extra dimensions. OWL is especially well suited to observe black hole events
produced by neutrinos from the interactions of cosmic rays with the 3 K
background radiation. Depending on the parameters of the scenario of large
extra dimensions and on the flux model, as many as 28 events per year are
expected for a Planck scale of 3 TeV.Comment: 8 pages, including 7 color figures, three figure captions corrected,
minor changes for clarification, one reference adde
Tau Neutrinos Underground: Signals of Oscillations with Extragalactic Neutrinos
The appearance of high energy tau neutrinos due to
oscillations of extragalactic neutrinos can be observed by measuring the
neutrino induced upward hadronic and electromagnetic showers and upward muons.
We evaluate quantitatively the tau neutrino regeneration in the Earth for a
variety of extragalactic neutrino fluxes. Charged-current interactions of the
upward tau neutrinos below and in the detector, and the subsequent tau decay
create muons or hadronic and electromagnetic showers. The background for these
events are muon neutrino and electron neutrino charged-current and
neutral-current interactions, where in addition to extragalactic neutrinos, we
consider atmospheric neutrinos. We find significant signal to background ratios
for the hadronic/electromagnetic showers with energies above 10 TeV to 100 TeV
initiated by the extragalactic neutrinos. We show that the tau neutrinos from
point sources also have the potential for discovery above a 1 TeV threshold. A
kilometer-size neutrino telescope has a very good chance of detecting the
appearance of tau neutrinos when both muon and hadronic/electromagnetic showers
are detected.Comment: section added and two new figs; accepted for publication in Physical
Review