http://arxiv.org/abs/2304.06068
The flavor composition of high-energy neutrinos carries important information about their birth. However, the two most common production scenarios, $pp$ (hadronuclear) and $p\gamma$ (photohadronic) processes, lead to the same flavor ratios when neutrinos and antineutrinos cannot be distinguished. The Glashow resonant interaction $\bar{\nu}_e+e^- \rightarrow W^-$ becomes a window to differentiate the antineutrino contribution from the total diffuse neutrino flux, thus lifting this degeneracy. We examine the power of Glashow resonant events in measuring the fraction of the $\bar{\nu}_e$ flux with current IceCube data, and produce projected sensitivities based on the combined exposure of planned Cherenkov neutrino telescopes around the globe. We find that $pp$ and $p\gamma$ can be distinguished at a 2$\sigma$ significance level in the next decades, in both an event-wise analysis and a more conservative statistical analysis, even with pessimistic assumptions on the spectral index of the astrophysical flux. Finally, we consider the sensitivity of future experiments to mixed production mechanisms.
Q. Liu, N. Song and A. Vincent
Fri, 14 Apr 23
41/64
Comments: 15 pages, 9 figures