Ultrahigh Energy Neutrinos at the Pierre Auger Observatory

Abstract

The observation of ultrahigh energy (UHE) neutrinos has become a priority in experimental astroparticle physics. UHE neutrinos can be detected with a variety of techniques. In particular, neutrinos can interact in the atmosphere (downward-going neutrinos) or in the Earth crust (Earth-skimming neutrinos), producing air showers that can be observed with arrays of detectors at the ground. With the Surface Detector Array of the Pierre Auger Observatory we can detect these types of cascades. The distinguishing signature for neutrino events is the presence of very inclined showers produced close to the ground (i.e. after having traversed a large amount of atmosphere). In this work we review the procedure and criteria established to search for UHE neutrinos in the data collected with the ground array of the Pierre Auger Observatory. This includes Earth-skimming as well as downward-going neutrinos. No neutrino candidates have been found, which allows us to place competitive limits to the diffuse flux of UHE neutrinos in the EeV range and above.

Also available at http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ahep/2013/708680/

References in corpus (8)

• High-energy neutrinos in the context of multimessenger physics
• Cosmogenic Neutrinos: parameter space and detectabilty from PeV to ZeV
• GZK Neutrinos after the Fermi-LAT Diffuse Photon Flux Measurement
• The Offline Software Framework of the Pierre Auger Observatory
• The Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna Ultra-high Energy Neutrino Detector Design, Performance, and Sensitivity for 2006-2007 Balloon Flight
• New Limits on the Ultra-high Energy Cosmic Neutrino Flux from the ANITA Experiment
• Calibration of the Surface Array of the Pierre Auger Observatory
• Search for Point-Like Sources of Ultra-High Energy Neutrinos at the Pierre Auger Observatory and Improved Limit on the Diffuse Flux of Tau Neutrinos

Cited by in corpus (7)

• Multi-Messenger Physics with the Pierre Auger Observatory
• Acceleration and propagation of ultra high energy cosmic rays
• A new physics interpretation of the IceCube data
• A search for the anomalous events detected by ANITA using the Pierre Auger Observatory
• TeV gravity searches
• Evaluation of the potential of a gamma-ray observatory to detect astrophysical neutrinos through inclined showers
• Aspects of astrophysical particle production and beyond the Standard Model phenomenology