Probing particle physics with IceCube

Abstract

The IceCube observatory located at the South Pole is a cubic-kilometre optical Cherenkov telescope primarily designed for the detection of high-energy astrophysical neutrinos. IceCube became fully operational in 2010, after a seven-year construction phase, and reached a milestone in 2013 by the first observation of cosmic neutrinos in the TeV-PeV energy range. This observation does not only mark an important breakthrough in neutrino astronomy, but it also provides a new probe of particle physics related to neutrino production, mixing, and interaction. In this review we give an overview of the various possibilities how IceCube can address fundamental questions related to the phenomena of neutrino oscillations and interactions, the origin of dark matter, and the existence of exotic relic particles, like monopoles. We will summarize recent results and highlight future avenues.Keywords IceCube · physics beyond the Standard Model · neutrino telescopes · neutrino oscillation · neutrino interactions · sterile neutrinos · dark matter · magnetic monopoles PACS 95.35.+d · 14.80.Hv · 13.15.+g · 14.60.Lm arXiv:1806.05696v1 [astro-ph.HE]

Neutrino Echoes from Multimessenger Transient Sources

“…Notably, BSM-induced neutrino echoes generally predict ∆t ∝ E −1 ν C 2 . This is distinct from predictions of other BSM signatures such as LIV and WEP violation (see a review [8]). For example, LIV shifts the light velocity by (E ν /ζ n M pl ) n (where M pl is the Planck mass), leading to ∆t = D(E ν /ζ n M pl ) n (e.g., [98,122]).…”

“…Neutrinos have important clues to particle physics Beyond the Standard Model (BSM), as well as the asymmetry between matter and antimatter. Since the discovery of high-energy cosmic neutrinos in IceCube, not only the properties of neutrinos but also different kinds of BSM physics, including dark matter (DM) and nonstandard interactions, have been discussed (see, e.g., [8,9]). In the Standard Model (with a minimal extension for finite neutrino masses), the time delay due to the finite neutrino mass (m ν ) is estimated to be ∆t ≈ m 2 ν D/(2E 2 ν ) ≃ 1.5 × 10 −13 s (m ν /0.1 eV) 2 (0.1 PeV/E ν ) 2 (D/3 Gpc), which is much shorter than durations of known astrophysical transients.…”

Open Questions in Cosmic-Ray Research at Ultrahigh Energies

“…New physics in UHE neutrinos. High-energy astrophysical neutrinos, with TeV-PeV energies, recently discovered, have opened up a new regime to test for new physics (Anchordoqui et al, 2005;Gonzalez-Garcia et al, 2005;Ahlers et al, 2018). They are unparalleled in two key features: they have the highest neutrino energies detected-so they can probe effects at new energy scales-and they travel over the longest baselinesso tiny new-physics effects could accumulate en route to us, and reach detectable levels.…”

Fundamental Physics with High-Energy Astrophysical Neutrinos Today and in the Future

“…In our presentation, we favor breadth over depth; details can be found in, e.g., Ref. [3]. To help guide efforts, we introduce a classification scheme of models of new neutrino physics, i.e., of physics beyond the Standard Model.…”