The Sensitivity of PUEO to Cosmogenic Neutrinos and Exotic Physics Scenarios

Fuente: arXiv
Salvato in:
Dettagli Bibliografici
Autori principali: Sherman, Angelina, Fang, Ke, Hooper, Dan
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
Soggetti:
Accesso online:
Tags: Aggiungi Tag
Nessun Tag, puoi essere il primo ad aggiungerne!!
_version_ 1866913056102023168
author Sherman, Angelina
Fang, Ke
Hooper, Dan
author_facet Sherman, Angelina
Fang, Ke
Hooper, Dan
contents Several observatories designed to detect ultrahigh-energy neutrinos are planned for the next decade. The most imminent of these is the Payload for Ultrahigh Energy Observations (PUEO), a long-duration balloon-based experiment that will provide unprecedented sensitivity to neutrinos with energies in the range of ~ 1 - 1000 EeV. In this work, we assess the scientific reach of PUEO. In particular, we evaluate the sensitivity of this observatory to cosmogenic neutrinos and, in turn, to the proton fraction of the ultrahigh-energy cosmic-ray spectrum. We also consider the potential of PUEO to probe scenarios in which neutrinos are produced through the decays of ultraheavy dark matter particles or are radiated from cosmic strings. We find that PUEO will be able to constrain the proton composition of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays in scenarios that feature very strong source evolution and in which protons are accelerated to extremely high energies. Although gamma-ray observations are generally more sensitive to decaying particles than neutrino observations, PUEO is expected to set the strongest neutrino-detector constraints above 10^19 eV. PUEO will also provide the strongest constraints on some models of cosmic strings.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2512_20594
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle The Sensitivity of PUEO to Cosmogenic Neutrinos and Exotic Physics Scenarios
Sherman, Angelina
Fang, Ke
Hooper, Dan
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Several observatories designed to detect ultrahigh-energy neutrinos are planned for the next decade. The most imminent of these is the Payload for Ultrahigh Energy Observations (PUEO), a long-duration balloon-based experiment that will provide unprecedented sensitivity to neutrinos with energies in the range of ~ 1 - 1000 EeV. In this work, we assess the scientific reach of PUEO. In particular, we evaluate the sensitivity of this observatory to cosmogenic neutrinos and, in turn, to the proton fraction of the ultrahigh-energy cosmic-ray spectrum. We also consider the potential of PUEO to probe scenarios in which neutrinos are produced through the decays of ultraheavy dark matter particles or are radiated from cosmic strings. We find that PUEO will be able to constrain the proton composition of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays in scenarios that feature very strong source evolution and in which protons are accelerated to extremely high energies. Although gamma-ray observations are generally more sensitive to decaying particles than neutrino observations, PUEO is expected to set the strongest neutrino-detector constraints above 10^19 eV. PUEO will also provide the strongest constraints on some models of cosmic strings.
title The Sensitivity of PUEO to Cosmogenic Neutrinos and Exotic Physics Scenarios
topic High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.20594