Cosmogenic neutrinos and quasi-stable supersymmetric particle production

TL;DR

This paper investigates the detection prospects of quasi-stable supersymmetric particles, specifically staus, produced by cosmogenic neutrinos, highlighting optimal angles and methods to distinguish signals from background muons.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed analysis of stau energy loss mechanisms and identifies optimal detection angles, advancing methods for identifying supersymmetric particles in neutrino observatories.

Findings

Stau signals can be several hundred times larger than muon signals at certain angles.

Energy loss patterns help distinguish staus from muon background.

Weak interactions of staus produce detectable showers in the detector.

Abstract

We study the signal for the detection of quasi-stable supersymmetric particles produced in interactions of cosmogenic neutrinos. We consider energy loss of high energy staus due to photonuclear and weak interactions. We show that there are optimal nadir angles for which the stau signal is a factor of several hundred larager than muons. We discuss how one could potentially eliminate the muon background by considering the energy loss of muons in the detector. We also show results for the showers produced by weak interactions of staus that reach the detector.