PLE$\nu$M: A global and distributed monitoring system of high-energy astrophysical neutrinos

TL;DR

PLEνM is a proposed global distributed system that combines data from multiple neutrino telescopes to significantly enhance the detection and analysis of high-energy astrophysical neutrinos, addressing key open questions in the field.

Contribution

This paper introduces PLEνM, a novel system that aggregates data from current and future neutrino observatories to improve sensitivity and source detection capabilities.

Findings

Potential to increase exposure fourfold compared to current data

Sensitivity to astrophysical neutrinos can improve by up to two orders of magnitude

Enhanced ability to discover and characterize neutrino sources

Abstract

High-energy astrophysical neutrinos, discovered by IceCube, are now regularly observed, albeit at a low rate due to their low flux. As a result, open questions about high-energy neutrino astrophysics and particle physics remain limited by statistics at best, or unanswered at worst. Fortunately, this situation will improve soon: in the next few years, a host of new neutrino telescopes, currently under planning and construction, will come online. It is natural to combine their collected observing power: we propose the Planetary Neutrino Monitoring System (PLE$\nu$M), a concept for a global repository of high-energy neutrino observations, in order to finally give firm answers to open questions. PLE$\nu$M will reach up to four times the exposure available today by combining the exposures of current and future neutrino telescopes distributed around the world -- IceCube, IceCube-Gen2, Baikal-GVD, KM3NeT, and P-ONE. Depending on the declination and spectral index, PLE$\nu$M will improve the sensitivity to astrophysical neutrinos by up to two orders of magnitude. We present first estimates on the capability of PLE$\nu$M to discover Galactic and extragalactic sources of astrophysical neutrinos and to characterize the diffuse flux of high-energy neutrinos in unprecedented detail.