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

Journal Article · Fri May 15 00:00:00 EDT 2009 · Physical Review. D, Particles Fields

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVD.79.102001· OSTI ID:21296293

Abraham, J; De La Vega, G; Garcia, B; Videla, M ^[1]; Abreu, P; Andringa, S; Assis, P; Brogueira, P; Conceicao, R; Goncalves, P; Pimenta, M; Santo, C E; Tome, B ^[2]; Aglietta, M; Bonino, R; Castellina, A; Chiavassa, A; Fulgione, W; Gorgi, A; Lucero, A ^[3]

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1. Observatorio Meteorologico Parque Gral. San Martin (UTN- FRM/CONICET/CNEA), Mendoza (Argentina)
2. LIP and Instituto Superior Tecnico, Lisboa (Portugal)
3. Istituto di Fisica dello Spazio Interplanetario (INAF), Universita di Torino and Sezione INFN, Torino (Italy)

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 {nu}{sub {tau}} may interact in the Earth's crust and produce a {tau} lepton by means of charged-current interactions. The {tau} 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 {tau} 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 {tau} neutrino candidates have been found. For neutrinos in the energy range 2x10{sup 17} eV<E{sub {nu}}<2x10{sup 19} eV, assuming a diffuse spectrum of the form E{sub {nu}}{sup -2}, data collected between 1 January 2004 and 30 April 2008 yield a 90% confidence-level upper limit of E{sub {nu}}{sup 2}dN{sub {nu}{sub {tau}}}/dE{sub {nu}}<9x10{sup -8} GeV cm{sup -2} s{sup -1} sr{sup -1}.

• OSTI ID: 21296293
• Journal Information: Physical Review. D, Particles Fields, Vol. 79, Issue 10; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.79.102001; (c) 2009 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0556-2821
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS
ATMOSPHERES
CHARGED-CURRENT INTERACTIONS
COSMIC RADIATION
DECAY
EARTH CRUST
EEV RANGE
PEV RANGE
SPECTRA
TAU NEUTRINOS
TAU PARTICLES