High Energy Neutrino Interactions

Abstract

We study ultrahigh energy astrophysical neutrinos and their interactions within the Standard Model and beyond. We consider propagation of muon neutrinos, tau neutrinos that originate in $ν_μ\to ν_τ$ oscillations, and tau leptons produced in charged-current neutrino interactions. We show that high energy taus lose their energy through bremsstrahlung, pair production and photonuclear processes until they reach energy of $\sim 10^8$ GeV, bellow which they are more likely to decay. Neutrino interactions at energies above $10^8$GeV could lead to the production of microscopic black holes predicted in theories of extra dimensions, or they can undergo instanton-induced processes. We discuss potential signals for these processes in detectors such as IceCube and ANITA.