Complete predictions for high-energy neutrino propagation in matter

Abstract

We present predictions for the interactions of energetic neutrinos with matter as they propagate through Earth towards large-volume detectors. Our results are based on state-of-the-art calculations of the high-energy neutrino-matter interaction cross-sections, which we have implemented in the module of . In addition to the dominant interaction process, deep inelastic scattering off quarks and gluons, we include the relevant subdominant channels: (in)elastic scattering off the photon field of nucleons, coherent scattering off the photon field of nuclei, as well as the scattering on atomic electrons via the Glashow resonance. Our predictions for the neutrino attenuation rates are provided by a new software package, . We quantify the dependence of our results on the cross-section model, including nuclear corrections, the incidence angle, and the spectral index, and compare them with other publicly available tools.

nNNPDF2.0: quark flavor separation in nuclei from LHC data

“…Apart from these applications, the nNNPDF2.0 PDF set can be used as input to theoretical predictions for a range of other hard processes in pPb and PbPb collisions, in particular for heavy ion collisions involving lighter nuclei, in comparisons with non-perturbative nuclear models, and with QCD calculations at small-x involving dense nuclear matter. We also expect the nNNPDF2.0 release to be used in future proton global PDF fits to estimate the theory uncertainties associated with neutrino scattering data [10], and also in high-energy astroparticle physics processes that involve hard scattering on nuclei [126,127].…”

The Forward Physics Facility: Sites, Experiments, and Physics Potential

“…The information to be provided by the FPF will make possible pinning down the small-and largex proton and nuclear PDFs from charm production in pp and pA collisions, and hence improve theoretical predictions for the neutrino flux from charm. These constraints on the proton and nuclear structure will be fully complementary to those arising from other experiments operating at the same time, in particular from the EIC [268,275]. Existing calculations of the prompt neutrino flux at the FPF are also very uncertain [40,154,377].…”

“…For small x below 10 −4 , higher-order QCD terms with ln(1/x) dependence grow quickly at factorization scales of order 1 GeV. Nevertheless, collinear factorization employing precisely known PDFs can provide useful small-x extrapolations for applications in astroparticle physics, such as the calculation of the ultra-high-energy neutrino-nucleus cross sections [267], the attenuation rates of astrophysical neutrinos as they cross the Earth on their way to the detector [268], and the flux of prompt neutrinos arising from charm production in cosmic rays collisions in the atmosphere [269,270].…”

Reaching the EeV frontier in neutrino-nucleon cross sections in upcoming neutrino telescopes

“…To propagate the neutrino flux we use N P E [20], which uses the state-of-the-art computations of the neutrino-matter cross sections [14], including the leading contribution from DIS, and the contributions from sub-leading interactions like scattering off the photon field of nucleons and nuclei, and the scattering off atomic electrons. The in-Earth attenuation depends on energy, direction, and flavor, and so does the flux that reaches the detector, i.e., Φ det ( , cos ).…”