Observability of Earth-skimming Ultra-high Energy Neutrinos

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Abstract
Neutrinos with energy above 10^8 GeV are expected from cosmic ray interactions with the microwave background and are predicted in models of active galactic nuclei and attempts to explain super-GZK cosmic rays. Such energetic neutrinos are difficult to detect, as they are shadowed by the Earth, but rarely interact in the atmosphere. Here we quantitatively examine a novel detection strategy: Earth-skimming ultra-high energy neutrinos may convert to charged leptons that escape the Earth, and these leptons may be detected in ground level fluorescence detectors. We find sensitivities much larger than for detection methods previously explored. With the sensitivity of the existing HiRes detector, several models in the literature may be tested, and neutrinos produced by interactions with the microwave background are marginally detectable. Improvements of two orders of magnitude are possible at the proposed Telescope Array or for detectors optimized for Earth-skimming events.

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