Observation of Seven Astrophysical Tau Neutrino Candidates with IceCube

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-2024

Publisher

American Physical Society

Source Publication

Physical Review Letters

Source ISSN

0031-9007

Original Item ID

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.132.151001

Abstract

We report on a measurement of astrophysical tau neutrinos with 9.7 yr of IceCube data. Using convolutional neural networks trained on images derived from simulated events, seven candidate 𝜈𝜏 events were found with visible energies ranging from roughly 20 TeV to 1 PeV and a median expected parent 𝜈𝜏 energy of about 200 TeV. Considering backgrounds from astrophysical and atmospheric neutrinos, and muons from 𝜋±/𝐾± decays in atmospheric air showers, we obtain a total estimated background of about 0.5 events, dominated by non-𝜈𝜏 astrophysical neutrinos. Thus, we rule out the absence of astrophysical 𝜈𝜏 at the 5𝜎 level. The measured astrophysical 𝜈𝜏 flux is consistent with expectations based on previously published IceCube astrophysical neutrino flux measurements and neutrino oscillations.

Comments

Physical Review Letters, Vol. 132, No. 15 (April 2024). DOI.

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