Inferring neutrino cross sections above 10^19 eV

Abstract

Extremely high energy neutrinos propagating in the atmosphere or in the Earth can originate horizontal or upgoing air-showers, respectively. We calculate the acceptances (event rate/flux) for detecting both types of events by fluorescence detectors, both space-based as with the EUSO and OWL proposals, and ground-based, as with Auger, HiRes and Telescope Array. We depict them as a function of the neutrino-nucleon cross section and show that from the ratio of these two classes of events, the inference of the cross section above 10^{19} eV appears feasible, assuming that a neutrino flux exists at these energies. Our semi-analytic calculation includes realistic energy-losses for tau leptons and Earth-curvature effects. We also consider constraints on shower development and identification and the effects of a cloud layer.