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Detection of astrophysical tau neutrino candidates in IceCube

Journal Article · · European Physical Journal. C, Particles and Fields (Online)
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  1. Loyola University, Chicago, IL (United States); IceCube Collaboration et al.
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High-energy tau neutrinos are rarely produced in atmospheric cosmic-ray showers or at cosmic particle accelerators, but are expected to emerge during neutrino propagation over cosmic distances due to flavor mixing. When high energy tau neutrinos interact inside the IceCube detector, two spatially separated energy depositions may be resolved, the first from the charged current interaction and the second from the tau lepton decay. We report a novel analysis of 7.5 years of IceCube data that identifies two candidate tau neutrinos among the 60 “High-Energy Starting Events” (HESE) collected during that period. The HESE sample offers high purity, all-sky sensitivity, and distinct observational signatures for each neutrino flavor, enabling a new measurement of the flavor composition. The measured astrophysical neutrino flavor composition is consistent with expectations, and an astrophysical tau neutrino flux is indicated at 2.8σ significance.
Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE Office of Science (SC), High Energy Physics (HEP)
Contributing Organization:
IceCube Collaboration
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-05CH11231
OSTI ID:
1987645
Journal Information:
European Physical Journal. C, Particles and Fields (Online), Journal Name: European Physical Journal. C, Particles and Fields (Online) Journal Issue: 11 Vol. 82; ISSN 1434-6052
Publisher:
Springer NatureCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS