Could Bert, Ernie and Big Bird be 13 billion years old?

TL;DR

This paper explores the hypothesis that the highest energy neutrinos, undetected by IceCube, could be cosmological neutrinos amplified by early universe proton acceleration via inverse Fermi scattering.

Contribution

It proposes a novel interpretation linking high-energy neutrinos to early universe proton acceleration mechanisms.

Findings

Suggests a new cosmological origin for high-energy neutrinos

Provides a theoretical framework for neutrino boosting in the early universe

Offers potential explanations for IceCube's non-detection of certain neutrinos

Abstract

Possible interpretation of highest energy neutrino never detected by IceCube as cosmological neutrinos boosted by the first accelerated protons in the Universe: the Inverse Fermi scattering $p\nu\rightarrow p'\nu'$.