Measurement of the Atmospheric Neutrino Induced Muon Flux with the MACRO detector

Abstract

The flux of neutrino-induced muons has been measured with the MACRO detector. Different event topologies have been detected, due to neutrino interactions in the apparatus and in the rock below it. The upward-throughgoing muon sample is the larger one and is generated by neutrinos with an average energy of ~ 100 GeV. The observed upward-throughgoing muons are 26% fewer than expected and the zenith angle distribution does not fit with the expected one. Assuming neutrino oscillations, both measurements suggest maximum mixing and Dm2 of a few times 10-3 eV2. The other event categories due to interactions of low-energy neutrinos (average energy ~ 4 GeV) have been recently studied and the results of these new analyses are presented for the first time at this workshop. These data show a regular deficit of observed events in each angular bin, as expected assuming neutrino oscillations with maximum mixing, in agreement with the analysis of the upward-throughgoing muona sample.