Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Hill, G. C
• Whelan, B. J
• Bradascio, F
• Satalecka, K
• Stachurska, J
• Usner, M
• Bagherpour, H
• Meures, T
• Pinat, E
• Raab, C
• Medici, M
• Ahrens, M
• Dumm, J. P
• Walck, C
• Al Samarai, I
• Bron, S
• Altmann, D
• Anton, G
• Plum, M
• Huang, F
• Keivani, A
• Collin, G. H
• Brenzke, M
• Glauch, T
• Leuermann, M
• Rdel, L
• Rongen, M
• Slzer, T
• Vogel, E
• Kopper, C
• Baum, V
• Ehrhardt, T
• Kpke, L
• Wiebe, K
• Filimonov, K
• Price, P. B
• Beatty, J. J
• Bos, F
• Helbing, K
• Hickford, S
• Hoffmann, R
• Naumann, U
• Pollmann, A. Obertacke
• Cross, R
• Cheung, E
• Felde, J
• Friedman, E
• Olivas, A
• Besson, D. Z
• Binder, G
• Palczewski, T
• Schlunder, P
• Prez de los Heros, C
• Casey, J
• Chirkin, D
• Desiati, P
• Daz-Vlez, J. C
• Griffith, Z
• Hoshina, K
• Kheirandish, A
• Luszczak, W
• McNally, F
• Merino, G
• Tosi, D
• Vandenbroucke, J
• Wandkowsky, N
• Wendt, C
• Westerhoff, S
• Wille, L
• Wolf, M
• Brayeur, L
• Casier, M
• de Wasseige, G
• Kunnen, J
• Lnemann, J
• Maggi, G
• Clark, K
• Classen, L
• Kappes, A
• Coenders, S
• Krings, K
• Turcati, A
• DeYoung, T
• Hignight, J
• Mahn, K. B. M
• Micallef, J
• Koirala, R
• Stanev, T
• Vraeghe, M
• de With, M
• Goldschmidt, A
• Stokstad, R. G
• Kim, M
• Niederhausen, H
• Kohnen, G
• Kopper, S
• Wills, L
• Madsen, J
• Seunarine, S
• Taboada, I

Titel

Measurement of the multi-TeV neutrino interaction cross-section with IceCube using Earth absorption

Ist Teil von

• Nature (London), 2017-11, Vol.551 (7682), p.596-600

Ort / Verlag

London: Nature Publishing Group UK

Erscheinungsjahr

2017

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• IceCube has measured the absorption of atmospheric and astrophysical neutrinos in the Earth, and found that the interaction cross-section of multi-TeV neutrinos is within 50 per cent of the predictions of the standard model. Energetic neutrinos at the cross-section Neutrinos interact weakly with normal matter, but the neutrino–nucleon interaction cross-section gets larger with increasing neutrino energy. Hitherto, the cross-section has been measured only at relatively low energies. Spencer Klein and colleagues in the IceCube Collaboration report a measurement of neutrino absorption by the Earth at energies between 6.3 and 980 teraelectronvolts (TeV). The calculated cross-section is statistically consistent with that predicted by the standard model of particle physics, with no evidence for effects of compact dimensions. Neutrinos interact only very weakly, so they are extremely penetrating. The theoretical neutrino–nucleon interaction cross-section, however, increases with increasing neutrino energy, and neutrinos with energies above 40 teraelectronvolts (TeV) are expected to be absorbed as they pass through the Earth. Experimentally, the cross-section has been determined only at the relatively low energies (below 0.4 TeV) that are available at neutrino beams from accelerators 1 , 2 . Here we report a measurement of neutrino absorption by the Earth using a sample of 10,784 energetic upward-going neutrino-induced muons. The flux of high-energy neutrinos transiting long paths through the Earth is attenuated compared to a reference sample that follows shorter trajectories. Using a fit to the two-dimensional distribution of muon energy and zenith angle, we determine the neutrino–nucleon interaction cross-section for neutrino energies 6.3–980 TeV, more than an order of magnitude higher than previous measurements. The measured cross-section is about 1.3 times the prediction of the standard model 3 , consistent with the expectations for charged- and neutral-current interactions. We do not observe a large increase in the cross-section with neutrino energy, in contrast with the predictions of some theoretical models, including those invoking more compact spatial dimensions 4 or the production of leptoquarks 5 . This cross-section measurement can be used to set limits on the existence of some hypothesized beyond-standard-model particles, including leptoquarks.