Ultra-high energy event KM3-230213A as a cosmogenic neutrino in light of minimal UHECR flux models

Abstract

Recently, the KM3NeT experiment reported the detection of a neutrino with exceptionally high energy E = 220 PeV, whose origin remains unclear. The corresponding value of the neutrino flux is in tension with the results of other high-energy neutrino experiments. In this study, we discuss the possibility that this neutrino is cosmogenic, i. e., produced by ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECR) during their propagation through the intergalactic medium. We adopt the UHECR flux models derived by the Telescope Array experiment, which features a predominantly light mass composition. We show that the predictions of the cosmogenic neutrino flux in these models are consistent with the measurements of the KM3NeT-only and with that of the "global neutrino observatory" at approximately 2${\sigma}$ level. Notably, this result is achieved in a minimal version of the UHECR flux models, that assume one source population with a standard cosmological evolution. We also estimate the corresponding cosmogenic gamma-ray flux and show that it is consistent with Fermi-LAT IGRB measurements and UHE gamma-ray limits; the improvement of the latter can probe these predictions in future.