Measuring the Neutrino Cross Section Using 8 years of Upgoing Muon Neutrinos Observed with IceCube

TL;DR

This paper presents an analysis of 8 years of IceCube data to measure the neutrino cross section at energies from 1 TeV to 100 PeV, improving precision over previous results and testing Standard Model predictions.

Contribution

It introduces a new analysis method using 8 years of data to measure the neutrino cross section with better statistics and systematic uncertainty treatment.

Findings

Cross section measurement consistent with Standard Model

Enhanced sensitivity due to increased data and improved analysis

Energy-dependent cross section results spanning 1 TeV to 100 PeV

Abstract

The IceCube Neutrino Observatory detects neutrinos at energies orders of magnitude higher than those available to current accelerators. Above 40 TeV, neutrinos traveling through the Earth will be absorbed as they interact via charged current interactions with nuclei, creating a deficit of Earth-crossing neutrinos detected at IceCube. The previous published results showed the cross section to be consistent with Standard Model predictions for 1 year of IceCube data. We present a new analysis that uses 8 years of IceCube data to fit the $\nu_\mu$ absorption in the Earth, with statistics an order of magnitude better than previous analyses, and with an improved treatment of systematic uncertainties. It will measure the cross section in three energy bins that span the range 1 TeV to 100 PeV. We will present Monte Carlo studies that demonstrate its sensitivity.