Crossing muons in Icecube at highest energy: Cornerstone to neutrino astronomy

TL;DR

This paper discusses how high-energy crossing muons in IceCube can be used as a tool for neutrino astronomy, potentially revealing source clustering and aiding in identifying extraterrestrial neutrino origins.

Contribution

It proposes that analyzing crossing muons at tens-TeV energies can improve source localization and clustering detection in neutrino astronomy, a novel approach compared to traditional cascade analysis.

Findings

High-energy crossing muons are promising for source detection.

Estimated dozens of crossing muons could be observed in three years.

Preliminary data supports the feasibility of this method.

Abstract

Highest energy neutrino events (contained) in cubic km ICECUBE detector resulted in last three years to be as many as $37-2=35$ signals (two of those having been recently discharged); these tens-hundred TeV (32 energetic events) up to rarest (only 3) PeV cascade showers, proved to have an extraterrestrial origin. The UHE neutrino flavor transition from a $\nu_{\mu}$ atmospheric dominance (over $\nu_{e}$ showers at TeV energy), toward a higher energy shower cascade ($\nu_{e}$, $\nu_{\tau}$) events at few tens TeV up to PeV energy is a hint of such a fast extraterrestrial injection. The majority (28 out of 35) of all these events are spherical cascade; their consequent smeared map is inconclusive. The additional rarest $9-2=7$ muon tracks, while being sharp in arrival directions, did not offer any correlated clustering nor any overlapping within known sources. We recently suggested that the highest energy (tens-TeV) crossing muon along the ICECUBE, mostly at horizons or upcoming, are the ideal tool able to reveal soon such clustering or even any narrow angle pointing to known (IR, X, Radio or $\gamma$) sources or self-correlation in rare doublet or triplet: a last hope for a meaningful and short-time $\nu$ Astronomy. Any crossing muons clustering along galactic sources or within UHECR arrivals might also probe rarest UHECR event made by nuclei or neutrons. Within three years of ICECUBE data all the non-contained crossing highest energy muons above few tens TeV may be several dozens, possibly around $54$ (27 for upward ones), mostly enhanced along horizontal edges, painting known sources and/or self-correlating in doublets or rarest triplet (if steady or transient nearby source are at sight). Recent preliminary ICECUBE presentation on crossing muons are consistent with present preliminary muon rate estimate.