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Title: Two-component flux explanation for the high energy neutrino events at IceCube

Abstract

In understanding the spectral and flavor composition of the astrophysical neutrino flux responsible for the recently observed ultrahigh-energy events at IceCube we see how important both astrophysics and particle physics are. Here, we perform a statistical likelihood analysis to the three-year IceCube data and derive the allowed range of the spectral index and flux normalization for various well-motivated physical flavor compositions at the source. While most of the existing analyses so far assume the flavor composition of the neutrinos at an astrophysical source to be (1:2:0), it seems rather unnatural to assume only one type of source, once we recognize the possibility of at least two physical sources. Bearing this in mind, we entertain the possibility of a two-component source for the analysis of IceCube data. It appears that our two-component hypothesis explains some key features of the data better than a single-component scenario; i.e. it addresses the apparent energy gap between 400 TeV and about 1 PeV and easily accommodates the observed track-to-shower ratio. Given the extreme importance of the flavor composition for the correct interpretation of the underlying astrophysical processes as well as for the ramification for particle physics, this two-component flux should be tested as more datamore » is accumulated.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [1]
  1. Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). Dept. of Physics
  2. Univ. of Manchester (United Kingdom). Consortium for Fundamental Physics
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), High Energy Physics (HEP)
OSTI Identifier:
1412635
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1222515
Report Number(s):
BNL-113788-2017-JA
Journal ID: ISSN 1550-7998; PRVDAQ; KA2401012; TRN: US1800307
Grant/Contract Number:  
SC0012704; AC02-98CH10886
Resource Type:
Journal Article: Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Physical Review. D, Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 92; Journal Issue: 7; Journal ID: ISSN 1550-7998
Publisher:
American Physical Society (APS)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS; flux; neutrino; IceCube; HE

Citation Formats

Chen, Chien-Yi, Dev, P. S. Bhupal, and Soni, Amarjit. Two-component flux explanation for the high energy neutrino events at IceCube. United States: N. p., 2015. Web. doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.92.073001.
Chen, Chien-Yi, Dev, P. S. Bhupal, & Soni, Amarjit. Two-component flux explanation for the high energy neutrino events at IceCube. United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.92.073001
Chen, Chien-Yi, Dev, P. S. Bhupal, and Soni, Amarjit. 2015. "Two-component flux explanation for the high energy neutrino events at IceCube". United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.92.073001. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1412635.
@article{osti_1412635,
title = {Two-component flux explanation for the high energy neutrino events at IceCube},
author = {Chen, Chien-Yi and Dev, P. S. Bhupal and Soni, Amarjit},
abstractNote = {In understanding the spectral and flavor composition of the astrophysical neutrino flux responsible for the recently observed ultrahigh-energy events at IceCube we see how important both astrophysics and particle physics are. Here, we perform a statistical likelihood analysis to the three-year IceCube data and derive the allowed range of the spectral index and flux normalization for various well-motivated physical flavor compositions at the source. While most of the existing analyses so far assume the flavor composition of the neutrinos at an astrophysical source to be (1:2:0), it seems rather unnatural to assume only one type of source, once we recognize the possibility of at least two physical sources. Bearing this in mind, we entertain the possibility of a two-component source for the analysis of IceCube data. It appears that our two-component hypothesis explains some key features of the data better than a single-component scenario; i.e. it addresses the apparent energy gap between 400 TeV and about 1 PeV and easily accommodates the observed track-to-shower ratio. Given the extreme importance of the flavor composition for the correct interpretation of the underlying astrophysical processes as well as for the ramification for particle physics, this two-component flux should be tested as more data is accumulated.},
doi = {10.1103/PhysRevD.92.073001},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1412635}, journal = {Physical Review. D, Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology},
issn = {1550-7998},
number = 7,
volume = 92,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 2015},
month = {Thu Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 2015}
}

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Cited by: 60 works
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