First observation of PeV-energy neutrinos with IceCube
Date
2013
Authors
Aartsen, M.
Hill, G.
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Journal article
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Physical Review Letters, 2013; 111(2):1-7
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M. G. Aartsen ... G. C. Hill ... et al. (IceCube Collaboration)
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Abstract
We report on the observation of two neutrino-induced events which have an estimated deposited energy in the IceCube detector of 1.04±0.16 and 1.14±0.17 PeV, respectively, the highest neutrino energies observed so far. These events are consistent with fully contained particle showers induced by neutral-current ν(e,μ,τ) (ν̅ (e,μ,τ)) or charged-current ν(e) (ν̅ e) interactions within the IceCube detector. The events were discovered in a search for ultrahigh energy neutrinos using data corresponding to 615.9 days effective live time. The expected number of atmospheric background is 0.082±0.004(stat)₋₀.₀₅₇⁺⁰.⁰⁴¹ (syst). The probability of observing two or more candidate events under the atmospheric background-only hypothesis is 2.9×10⁻³ (2.8σ) taking into account the uncertainty on the expected number of background events. These two events could be a first indication of an astrophysical neutrino flux; the moderate significance, however, does not permit a definitive conclusion at this time.
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© 2013 American Physical Society