Cosmic neutrino cascades from secret neutrino interactions

Kenny C. Y. Ng and John F. Beacom
Phys. Rev. D 90, 065035 – Published 30 September 2014; Erratum Phys. Rev. D 90, 089904 (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 (CνB) is particularly useful for directly testing secret neutrino interactions (νSI) 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 νSI compared to other astrophysical and cosmological probes, which are complementary to laboratory tests. We study the spectral distortions caused by νSI with a large s-channel contribution, which can lead to a dip, bump, or cutoff on an initially smooth spectrum. Consequently, νSI 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 νSI. Our phenomenological estimates provide guidance for more detailed calculations, comparisons to data, and model building.

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  • Received 23 April 2014
  • Publisher error corrected 3 October 2014

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.90.065035

© 2014 American Physical Society

Corrections

3 October 2014

Erratum

Authors & Affiliations

Kenny C. Y. Ng1,2,* and John F. Beacom1,2,3,†

  • 1Center for Cosmology and AstroParticle Physics (CCAPP), Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA
  • 2Department of Physics, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA
  • 3Department of Astronomy, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA

  • *ng.199@osu.edu
  • beacom.7@osu.edu

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Issue

Vol. 90, Iss. 6 — 15 September 2014

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