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Enhanced signal of astrophysical tau neutrinos propagating through Earth

Earth absorbs $\nue$ and $\numu$ of energies above about 100 TeV. As is well-known, although $\nutau$ will also disappear through charged-current interactions, the $\nutau$ flux will be regenerated by prompt tau decays. We show that this process also produces relatively large fluxes of secondary $\n...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Beacom, John F., Crotty, Patrick, Kolb, Edward W.
Lenguaje:eng
Publicado: 2001
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.66.021302
http://cds.cern.ch/record/528130
Descripción
Sumario:Earth absorbs $\nue$ and $\numu$ of energies above about 100 TeV. As is well-known, although $\nutau$ will also disappear through charged-current interactions, the $\nutau$ flux will be regenerated by prompt tau decays. We show that this process also produces relatively large fluxes of secondary $\nube$ and $\nubmu$, greatly enhancing the detectability of the initial $\nutau$. This is particularly important because at these energies $\nutau$ is a significant fraction of the expected astrophysical neutrino flux, and only a tiny portion of the atmospheric neutrino flux.