A limit on the ultra-high-energy neutrino flux from lunar observations with the Parkes radio telescope

Abstract

We report a limit on the ultra-high-energy neutrino flux based on a non-detection of radio pulses from neutrino-initiated particle cascades in the Moon, in observations with the Parkes radio telescope undertaken as part of the LUNASKA project. Due to the improved sensitivity of these observations, which had an effective duration of 127 hours and a frequency range of 1.2-1.5 GHz, this limit extends to lower neutrino energies than those from previous lunar radio experiments, with a detection threshold below 10^20 eV. The calculation of our limit allows for the possibility of lunar-origin pulses being misidentified as local radio interference, and includes the effect of small-scale lunar surface roughness. The targeting strategy of the observations also allows us to place a directional limit on the neutrino flux from the nearby radio galaxy Centaurus A.

Accepted by Physical Review D; 11 pages, 8 figures, 1 table

References in corpus (14)

• Detection of the Characteristic Pion-Decay Signature in Supernova Remnants
• Observational Constraints on the Ultra-high Energy Cosmic Neutrino Flux from the Second Flight of the ANITA Experiment
• The Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna Ultra-high Energy Neutrino Detector Design, Performance, and Sensitivity for 2006-2007 Balloon Flight
• Observations of the Askaryan Effect in Ice
• 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
• High energy radiation from Centaurus A
• Ultra-high energy Neutrinos from Centaurus A and the Auger hot spot
• The sensitivity of the next generation of lunar Cherenkov observations to UHE neutrinos and cosmic rays
• A new limit on the Ultra-High-Energy Cosmic-Ray flux with the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope
• Cosmic Strings as Emitters of Extremely High Energy Neutrinos
• A lunar radio experiment with the Parkes radio telescope for the LUNASKA project
• The Directional Dependence of Apertures, Limits and Sensitivity of the Lunar Cherenkov Technique to a UHE Neutrino Flux
• Noise statistics in a fast digital radio receiver: the Bedlam backend for the Parkes Radio Telescope
• Multi-messenger astronomy with Centaurus A

Cited by in corpus (3)

• Askaryan radiation from neutrino-induced showers in ice
• A lunar radio experiment with the Parkes radio telescope for the LUNASKA project
• Near-future discovery of point sources of ultra-high-energy neutrinos