From PeV to TeV: Astrophysical Neutrinos with Contained Vertices in 10 years of IceCube Data

TL;DR

This paper analyzes 10 years of IceCube data focusing on contained neutrino vertices to improve understanding of the astrophysical neutrino spectrum, especially at lower energies, and investigates a potential 30 TeV excess.

Contribution

It extends previous analyses by using a larger dataset and improved background modeling to better measure the neutrino spectrum and explore the 30 TeV excess.

Findings

Consistent with a softer power-law spectrum index of ~2.87.

Improved sensitivity to neutrinos down to 1 TeV.

Ongoing investigation of the 30 TeV excess.

Abstract

The IceCube Neutrino Observatory is a cubic-kilometer Cherenkov detector at the South Pole, designed to study neutrinos of astrophysical origin. We present an analysis of the Medium Energy Starting Events (MESE) sample, a veto-based event selection that selects neutrinos and efficiently rejects a background of cosmic ray-induced muons This is an extension of the High Energy Starting Event (HESE) analysis, which established the existence of high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin. The HESE sample is consistent with a single power law spectrum with best-fit index $2.87^{+0.20}_{-0.19}$, which is softer than complementary IceCube measurements of the astrophysical neutrino spectrum. While HESE is sensitive to neutrinos above 60 TeV, MESE improves the sensitivity to lower energies, down to 1 TeV. In this analysis we use an improved understanding of atmospheric backgrounds in the astrophysical neutrino sample via more accurate modeling of the detector self-veto. A previous measurement with a 2-year MESE dataset had indicated the presence of a possible 30 TeV excess. With 10 years of data, we have a larger sample size to investigate this excess. We will use this event selection to measure the cosmic neutrino energy spectrum over a wide energy range. The flavor ratio of astrophysical neutrinos will also be discussed.