Hall Reno M, Krizmanic JF, Venters TM. Cosmic tau neutrino detection via Cherenkov signals from air showers from Earth-emerging taus.
PHYSICAL REVIEW. D. (2016) 2019;
100:10.1103/physrevd.100.063010. [PMID:
32440575 PMCID:
PMC7241579 DOI:
10.1103/physrevd.100.063010]
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Abstract
We perform a new, detailed calculation of the flux and energy spectrum of Earth-emerging τ-leptons generated from the interactions of tau neutrinos and antineutrinos in the Earth. A layered model of the Earth is used to describe the variable density profile of the Earth. Different assumptions regarding the neutrino charged- and neutral-current cross sections as well as the τ-lepton energy loss models are used to quantify their contributions to the systematic uncertainty. A baseline simulation is then used to generate the optical Cherenkov signal from upward-moving extensive air showers generated by the τ-lepton decay in the atmosphere, applicable to a range of space-based instruments. We use this simulation to determine the neutrino sensitivity for E ν ≳ 10 PeV for a space-based experiment with performance similar to that for the Probe of Extreme Multi-Messenger Astrophysics (POEMMA) mission currently under study.
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