Showing papers by "John F. Beacom published in 2003"

Decay of high-energy astrophysical neutrinos.

Abstract: Existing limits on the nonradiative decay of one neutrino to another plus a massless particle (e.g., a singlet Majoron) are very weak. The best limits on the lifetime to mass ratio come from solar neutrino observations and are tau/m greater, similar 10(-4) s/eV for the relevant mass eigenstate(s). For lifetimes even several orders of magnitude longer, high-energy neutrinos from distant astrophysical sources would decay. This would strongly alter the flavor ratios from the phi(nu(e)):phi(nu(mu)):phi(nu(tau))=1:1:1 expected from oscillations alone and should be readily visible in the near future in detectors such as IceCube.

Measuring flavor ratios of high-energy astrophysical neutrinos

Abstract: We discuss the prospects for next generation neutrino telescopes, such as IceCube, to measure the flavor ratios of high-energy astrophysical neutrinos. The expected flavor ratios at the sources are φνe:φνμ:φντ=1:2:0, and neutrino oscillations quickly transform these to 1:1:1. The flavor ratios can be deduced from the relative rates of showers (νe charged current, most ντ charged current, and all flavors neutral current), muon tracks (νμ charged current only), and tau lepton lollipops and double bangs (ντ charged current only). The peak sensitivities for these interactions are at different neutrino energies, but the flavor ratios can be reliably connected by a reasonable measurement of the spectrum shape. Measurement of the astrophysical neutrino flavor ratios tests the assumed production mechanism and also provides a very long baseline test of a number of exotic scenarios, including neutrino decay, CPT violation, and small-δm2 oscillations to sterile neutrinos. © The American Physical Society.

Neutral current atmospheric neutrino flux measurement using neutrino proton elastic scattering in Super-Kamiokande

Abstract: Recent results show that atmospheric $ u_\mu$ oscillate with $\delta m^2 \simeq 3 \times 10^{-3}$ eV$^2$ and $\sin^2{2\theta_{atm}} \simeq 1$, and that conversion into $ u_e$ is strongly disfavored. The Super-Kamiokande (SK) collaboration, using a combination of three techniques, reports that their data favor $ u_\mu \to u_\tau$ over $ u_\mu \to u_{sterile}$. This distinction is extremely important for both four-neutrino models and cosmology. We propose that neutrino-proton elastic scattering ($ u + p \to u + p$) in water \v{C}erenkov detectors can also distinguish between active and sterile oscillations. This was not previously recognized as a useful channel since only about 2% of struck protons are above the \v{C}erenkov threshold. Nevertheless, in the present SK data there should be about 40 identifiable events. We show that these events have unique particle identification characteristics, point in the direction of the incoming neutrinos, and correspond to a narrow range of neutrino energies (1-3 GeV, oscillating near the horizon). This channel will be particularly important in Hyper-Kamiokande, with $\sim 40$ times higher rate. Our results have other important applications. First, for a similarly small fraction of atmospheric neutrino quasielastic events, the proton is relativistic. This uniquely selects $ u_\mu$ (not $\bar{ u}_\mu$) events, useful for understanding matter effects, and allows determination of the neutrino energy and direction, useful for the $L/E$ dependence of oscillations. Second, using accelerator neutrinos, both elastic and quasielastic events with relativistic protons can be seen in the K2K 1-kton near detector and MiniBooNE.

Supernovae and neutrinos

Abstract: A long-standing problem in supernova physics is how to measure the total energy and temperature of {nu}{sub {mu}}, {nu}{sub {tau}}, {bar {nu}}{sub {mu}}, and {bar {nu}}{sub {tau}}. While of the highest importance, this is very difficult because these flavors only have neutral-current detector interactions. We propose that neutrino-proton elastic scattering, {nu} + p {yields} {nu} + p, can be used for the detection of supernova neutrinos in scintillator detectors. It should be emphasized immediately that the dominant signal is on free protons. Though the proton recoil kinetic energy spectrum is soft, with T{sub p} {approx_equal} 2E{sub {nu}}{sup 2}/M{sub p}, and the scintillation light output from slow, heavily ionizing protons is quenched, the yield above a realistic threshold is nearly as large as that from {bar {nu}}{sub e} + p {yields} e{sup +} + n. In addition, the measured proton spectrum is related to the incident neutrino spectrum. The ability to detect this signal would give detectors like KamLAND and Borexino a crucial and unique role in the quest to detect supernova neutrinos.

GRB Afterglows and Other Transients in the SDSS

Abstract: The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) will image one quarter of the sky centered on the northern galactic cap and produce a 3-D map of galaxies and quasars found in the sample. An additional 225 deg 2 southern survey will be imaged repeatedly on varying timescales. Here we discuss both archival searches in the SDSS catalog (such as SDSS J24602.54+011318.8) and active searches with the SDSS instruments (such as for GRB 010222) for GRB afterglows and other transient objects.