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Cosmic neutrino cascades from secret neutrino interactions
- Source :
- Phys. Rev. D 90, 065035 (2014)
- Publication Year :
- 2014
-
Abstract
- The first detection of high-energy astrophysical neutrinos by IceCube provides new opportunities for tests of neutrino properties. The long baseline through the Cosmic Neutrino Background (C$\nu$B) is particularly useful for directly testing secret neutrino interactions ($\nu$SI) that would cause neutrino-neutrino elastic scattering at a larger rate than the usual weak interactions. We show that IceCube can provide competitive sensitivity to $\nu$SI compared to other astrophysical and cosmological probes, which are complementary to laboratory tests. We study the spectral distortions caused by $\nu$SI with a large s-channel contribution, which can lead to a dip, bump, or cutoff on an initially smooth spectrum. Consequently, $\nu$SI may be an exotic solution for features seen in the IceCube energy spectrum. More conservatively, IceCube neutrino data could be used to set model-independent limits on $\nu$SI. Our phenomenological estimates provide guidance for more detailed calculations, comparisons to data, and model building.<br />Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures, expanded discussion on detection prospects, matches the published version
Details
- Database :
- arXiv
- Journal :
- Phys. Rev. D 90, 065035 (2014)
- Publication Type :
- Report
- Accession number :
- edsarx.1404.2288
- Document Type :
- Working Paper
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.90.065035