PeV neutrinos from the propagation of ultra-high energy cosmic rays

We discuss the possibility that the PeV neutrinos recently observed by IceCube are produced by the interactions of extragalactic cosmic rays during their propagation through the radiation backgrounds. We show that the fluxes resulting from the decays of neutrons produced in the interactions of cosmi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of cosmology and astroparticle physics 2013-01, Vol.2013 (1), p.i-12
Main Authors: Roulet, Esteban, Sigl, Guenter, van Vliet, Arjen, Mollerach, Silvia
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
ASTROPHYSICS
ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
Background radiation
COSMIC NEUTRINOS
COSMIC PHOTONS
COSMIC RAY PROPAGATION
Cosmic rays
COSMOLOGY
Decay
Fluxes
GEV RANGE
HEAVY NUCLEI
IRON
Neutrinos
NEUTRONS
PARTICLE DECAY
PEV RANGE
Photons
PHOTONUCLEAR REACTIONS
PIONS
PROTONS
RELICT RADIATION
RESONANCE
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Summary:We discuss the possibility that the PeV neutrinos recently observed by IceCube are produced by the interactions of extragalactic cosmic rays during their propagation through the radiation backgrounds. We show that the fluxes resulting from the decays of neutrons produced in the interactions of cosmic ray protons with the CMB background are suppressed (E super(2) sub(v [Phi]v) /dE < 10 super(-10)GeV/cm super(2) s sr), with those resulting from the decays of pions produced in the interactions with the UV/optical/IR backgrounds being the dominant ones at PeV energies. The anti-neutrino fluxes produced by the decay of neutrons resulting from the photodisintegration of heavy nuclei with CMB photons are also shown to be quite suppressed (E super(2) sub(v[Phi]v) /dE < 10 super(-10)GeV/cm super(2) s sr), while those produced by photo-pion processes with UV/optical/IR backgrounds may be larger, although they are not expected to be above those achievable in the pure proton case. Scenarios with mixed composition and low cutoff rigidities can lead to PeV neutrino fluxes enhanced with respect to those in the pure Fe scenarios. We also discuss the possible impact of the Glashow resonance for the detection of these scenarios, showing that it plays a moderate role.
ISSN:1475-7516
1475-7516
DOI:10.1088/1475-7516/2013/01/028