Upper Limit on the Diffuse Flux of Cosmic $\nu_\mu$ with the ANTARES Neutrino Telescope

Abstract

A search for a diffuse flux of astrophysical muon neutrinos, using data collected by the ANTARES neutrino telescope from December 2007 to December 2009 is presented. A $(0.83\times 2\pi)$ sr sky was monitored for a total of 334 days of equivalent live time. The searched signal corresponds to an excess of events, produced by astrophysical sources, over the expected atmospheric neutrino background without any particular assumption on the source direction. Since the number of detected events is compatible with the number of expected background events, a 90% c.l. upper limit on the diffuse $\nu_\mu$ flux with a $E^{-2}$ spectrum is set at $E^2\Phi_{90%} = 5.3 \times 10^{-8} \ \mathrm{GeV\ cm^{-2}\ s^{-1}\ sr^{-1}}$ in the energy range 20 TeV -- 2.5 PeV. Other signal models with different energy shape were also tested and some rejected.