DSpace logo

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://dspace.bits-pilani.ac.in:8080/jspui/handle/123456789/18411
Title: Probing the cosmic sterile-neutrino background with IceCube
Authors: Chauhan, Bhavesh
Keywords: Physics
Astrophysics
High-energy starting events (HESE)
Issue Date: Sep-2024
Abstract: In this paper, we take a close look at the interaction between the TeV--PeV energy astrophysical neutrinos and a hypothetical cosmic sterile-neutrino background. These interactions yield absorption features, also called ``dips", in the astrophysical neutrino spectrum, which are studied using the deposited energy distribution of high-energy starting events (HESE) in the IceCube detector. We improve upon the previous analysis by including the effects of regeneration and a realistic source distribution on the propagation of astrophysical neutrinos. We use the latest 7.5-year HESE dataset and include the observation of Glashow resonance in our analysis. We evaluate the impact of these dips on the inferred spectral index and overall normalization of the astrophysical neutrinos. We find a mild preference for dips in the 300--800 TeV range, and the best-fit parameters for the mass of sterile-neutrino and the mediator are 0.5 eV and 23 MeV, respectively. We find that the inclusion of these absorption features lowers the spectral index of astrophysical neutrinos to 2.60+0.19−0.16. The lower spectral index can reduce the disagreement with the Northern Tracks sample but requires dedicated analysis. We also forecast the event spectrum for IceCube-Gen2 for the two different fits.
URI: https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.12145
http://dspace.bits-pilani.ac.in:8080/jspui/handle/123456789/18411
Appears in Collections:Department of Physics

Files in This Item:
There are no files associated with this item.


Items in DSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.