Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/2440/111182
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Type: Journal article
Title: Measurement of the multi-TeV neutrino interaction cross-section with IceCube using Earth absorption
Author: Aartsen, M.
Hill, G.
Kyriacou, A.
Robertson, S.
Wallace, A.
Whelan, B.
Ackermann, M.
Bernardini, E.
Blot, S.
Bradascio, F.
Bretz, H.
Brostean-Kaiser, J.
Franckowiak, A.
Jacobi, E.
Karg, T.
Kintscher, T.
Kunwar, S.
Nahnhauer, R.
Satalecka, K.
Spiering, C.
et al.
Citation: Nature, 2017; 551(7682):596-600
Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
Issue Date: 2017
ISSN: 0028-0836
1476-4687
Statement of
Responsibility: 
Mark G Aartsen, Gary C Hill, Alexander L Kyriacou, Sally A Robertson, Alexander L Wallace, Benjamin J Whelan ... et al.
Abstract: Neutrinos interact only very weakly, so they are extremely penetrating. The theoretical neutrino-nucleon interaction cross-section, however, increases with increasing neutrino energy, and neutrinos with energies above 40 teraelectronvolts (TeV) are expected to be absorbed as they pass through the Earth. Experimentally, the cross-section has been determined only at the relatively low energies (below 0.4 TeV) that are available at neutrino beams from accelerators. Here we report a measurement of neutrino absorption by the Earth using a sample of 10,784 energetic upward-going neutrino-induced muons. The flux of high-energy neutrinos transiting long paths through the Earth is attenuated compared to a reference sample that follows shorter trajectories. Using a fit to the two-dimensional distribution of muon energy and zenith angle, we determine the neutrino-nucleon interaction cross-section for neutrino energies 6.3-980 TeV, more than an order of magnitude higher than previous measurements. The measured cross-section is about 1.3 times the prediction of the standard model, consistent with the expectations for charged- and neutral-current interactions. We do not observe a large increase in the cross-section with neutrino energy, in contrast with the predictions of some theoretical models, including those invoking more compact spatial dimensions or the production of leptoquarks. This cross-section measurement can be used to set limits on the existence of some hypothesized beyond-standard-model particles, including leptoquarks.
Keywords: IceCube Collaboration
Rights: © 2017 Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature. All rights reserved.
DOI: 10.1038/nature24459
Grant ID: ARC
Published version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature24459
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