Observation of an ultra-high-energy cosmic neutrino with KM3NeT

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F68407700%3A21670%2F25%3A00384165" target="_blank" >RIV/68407700:21670/25:00384165 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-08543-1" target="_blank" >https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-08543-1</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-08543-1" target="_blank" >10.1038/s41586-024-08543-1</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Observation of an ultra-high-energy cosmic neutrino with KM3NeT

Original language description

The detection of cosmic neutrinos with energies above a teraelectronvolt (TeV) offers a unique exploration into astrophysical phenomena1,2,3. Electrically neutral and interacting only by means of the weak interaction, neutrinos are not deflected by magnetic fields and are rarely absorbed by interstellar matter: their direction indicates that their cosmic origin might be from the farthest reaches of the Universe. High-energy neutrinos can be produced when ultra-relativistic cosmic-ray protons or nuclei interact with other matter or photons, and their observation could be a signature of these processes. Here we report an exceptionally high-energy event observed by KM3NeT, the deep-sea neutrino telescope in the Mediterranean Sea4, which we associate with a cosmic neutrino detection. We detect a muon with an estimated energy of petaelectronvolts (PeV). In light of its enormous energy and near-horizontal direction, the muon most probably originated from the interaction of a neutrino of even higher energy in the vicinity of the detector. The cosmic neutrino energy spectrum measured up to now5,6,7 falls steeply with energy. However, the energy of this event is much larger than that of any neutrino detected so far. This suggests that the neutrino may have originated in a different cosmic accelerator than the lower-energy neutrinos, or this may be the first detection of a cosmogenic neutrino8, resulting from the interactions of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays with background photons in the Universe.

Czech name

—

Czech description

—

Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

—

OECD FORD branch

10308 - Astronomy (including astrophysics,space science)

Project

<a href="/en/project/GA24-12702S" target="_blank" >GA24-12702S: Experimental and theoretical studies of astrophysical high-energy neutrinos in KM3NeT neutrino telescopes</a><br>

Continuities

P - Projekt vyzkumu a vyvoje financovany z verejnych zdroju (s odkazem do CEP)

Publication year

2025

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Nature

ISSN

0028-0836

e-ISSN

1476-4687

Volume of the periodical

638

Issue of the periodical within the volume

8050

Country of publishing house

GB - UNITED KINGDOM

Number of pages

7

Pages from-to

376-382

UT code for WoS article

001427012000001

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85218619029