Neutrino Flux Bounds and Prospects for High Energy and Ultrahigh Energy Neutrino Source Detection

TL;DR

This paper reviews hadronic neutrino source models, constructs flux bounds, and evaluates detection prospects in water-based detectors, highlighting potential event rates and challenges in Earth's tomography.

Contribution

It introduces a formalism for neutrino flux bounds, applies it to existing models, and assesses detection prospects and Earth's tomography limitations.

Findings

Event rates of several hundred to a thousand per year in next-generation detectors.

Severe constraints on Earth's tomography due to statistical errors.

Flux bounds derived from hadronic neutrino source models.

Abstract

After briefly reviewing various hadronic neutrino source models, we show how to construct generic upper flux bounds. We then turn to the problem of neutrino propagation through the inner Earth and neutrino detection in water-based Cerenkov detectors. Applying the formalism thus developed to the Mannheim-Protheroe-Rachen and the Waxman&Bahcall flux bounds, we find that event rates of several hundred to thousand events per year might be possible in next-generation neutrino telescopes. However, a tomography of the inner Earth will face severe constraints due to the statistical error of the event rates to be expected.