A Comprehensive Diffuse Neutrino Search Using the Full Askaryan Radio Array

TL;DR

This paper reports a comprehensive search for ultra-high energy neutrinos using the full Askaryan Radio Array at the South Pole, setting new constraints and advancing detection techniques for future experiments.

Contribution

It presents the first full-array diffuse neutrino search with ARA, improving sensitivity and establishing scalable methods for next-generation neutrino detectors.

Findings

Most stringent constraints from in-ice radio detectors up to 1 ZeV.

Probing flux levels suggested by KM3NeT at 220 PeV.

Critical step toward scalable next-generation neutrino detection techniques.

Abstract

The Askaryan Radio Array (ARA) is a neutrino experiment at the South Pole, designed to detect radio-frequency emissions produced by interactions of ultra-high energy (UHE) neutrinos with the Antarctic ice. The array consists of five autonomous stations, each equipped with deep in-ice antennas sensitive to both vertically and horizontally polarized radio signals. With nearly 30 station-years of livetime accumulated, ARA is now conducting its first comprehensive array-wide search for diffuse UHE neutrinos. This analysis is expected to deliver the most stringent constraints from any in-ice radio-based detector up to 1~ZeV and is capable of probing flux levels suggested by KM3NeT around 220~PeV. The results from this analysis marks a critical step toward establishing scalable techniques for next-generation detectors.