Ultrahigh energy neutrino-nucleon cross section and radiative corrections
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637-1433 (United States)
Several proposals exist to detect cosmic neutrinos of energy from tens of GeV up to the highest energies observed for cosmic rays, {approximately}10{sup 20}eV, or possibly even beyond. Detection efficiencies depend crucially on the neutrino-nucleon cross section at these energies at which radiative corrections beyond the lowest order approximation could become non-negligible. The differential cross sections can be modified by more than 50{percent} in some regions of phase space. Estimates of corrections to the quantities most relevant for neutrino detection at these energies give, however, less dramatic effects: The average inelasticity in the outgoing lepton is increased from {approx_equal}0.19 to {approx_equal}0.24. The inclusive cross section is reduced by roughly half a percent. The dominant uncertainty of the standard model ultrahigh energy neutrino-nucleon cross section therefore still comes from uncertainties of the parton distributions in the nucleon at very low momentum fractions. {copyright} {ital 1998} {ital The American Physical Society}
- OSTI ID:
- 580074
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review, D, Vol. 57, Issue 6; Other Information: PBD: Mar 1998
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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