Seasonal variations of the atmospheric muon neutrino spectrum measured with IceCube

Abstract This study presents an analysis of seasonal variations in the atmospheric muon neutrino flux, using 11.3 years of data from the IceCube Neutrino Observatory. By leveraging a novel spectral unfolding method, we explore the energy range from 125 GeV to 10 TeV for zenith angles from $${90}^{\circ }$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:msup> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>90</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> <mml:mo>∘</mml:mo> </mml:msup> </mml:math> to $${110}^{\circ }$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:msup> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>110</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> <mml:mo>∘</mml:mo> </mml:msup> </mml:math> , corresponding to the Antarctic atmosphere. Our findings reveal that the differential measurement of the amplitudes of the seasonal variation is consistent with an energy-dependent decrease reaching ( $$-\,4.5$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>-</mml:mo> <mml:mspace/> <mml:mn>4.5</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> ± 1.2)% during Austral winter and increase to (+ 3.9 ± 1.3)% during Austral summer relative to the annual average at 10 TeV. While the unfolded flux exceeds the model predictions by up to 30%, the differential measurement of the seasonal to annual average flux remains unaffected. The measured seasonal variations of the muon neutrino spectrum are consistent with theoretical predictions using the MCEq code and the NRLMSISE-00 atmospheric model.

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Journal
The European Physical Journal C
Published
2025-12-01
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-025-14844-0
Primary Topic
Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena
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article
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0.00

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article

Seasonal variations of the atmospheric muon neutrino spectrum measured with IceCube

Delaney Butterfield, L. Schumacher, Kiara Carloni, M. Prado Rodriguez et al.
The European Physical Journal C
Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena
article

Seasonal variations of the atmospheric muon neutrino spectrum measured with IceCube

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article en

Abstract

Abstract This study presents an analysis of seasonal variations in the atmospheric muon neutrino flux, using 11.3 years of data from the IceCube Neutrino Observatory. By leveraging a novel spectral unfolding method, we explore the energy range from 125 GeV to 10 TeV for zenith angles from $${90}^{\circ }$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:msup> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>90</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> <mml:mo>∘</mml:mo> </mml:msup> </mml:math> to $${110}^{\circ }$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:msup> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>110</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> <mml:mo>∘</mml:mo> </mml:msup> </mml:math> , corresponding to the Antarctic atmosphere. Our findings reveal that the differential measurement of the amplitudes of the seasonal variation is consistent with an energy-dependent decrease reaching ( $$-\,4.5$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>-</mml:mo> <mml:mspace/> <mml:mn>4.5</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> ± 1.2)% during Austral winter and increase to (+ 3.9 ± 1.3)% during Austral summer relative to the annual average at 10 TeV. While the unfolded flux exceeds the model predictions by up to 30%, the differential measurement of the seasonal to annual average flux remains unaffected. The measured seasonal variations of the muon neutrino spectrum are consistent with theoretical predictions using the MCEq code and the NRLMSISE-00 atmospheric model.

The European Physical Journal CVol. 85(12)
Marquette University (US), University of Geneva (CH), Uppsala University (SE), University of Copenhagen (DK), Georgia Institute of Technology (US), Pennsylvania State University (US), Université Libre de Bruxelles (BE), University of Nevada, Reno (US), Vrije Universiteit Brussel (BE), University of Wisconsin–Madison (US), University of Padua (IT), Universiti Sains Malaysia (MY), University of Kansas (US), University of Alaska Anchorage (US), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (US), University of Alberta (CA), Chiba University (JP), Stockholm University (SE), University of Wuppertal (DE), University of Alabama (US), Simon Fraser University (CA), Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (DE), South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (US), University of Canterbury (NZ), The University of Texas at Arlington (US), Loyola University Chicago (US), Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (DE), TU Dortmund University (DE), Queen's University (CA), University of Utah (US), University of Münster (DE), Mercer University Health Sciences Center (US), Harvard University Press (US), Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY (DE), University of California System (US), Yale University (US), Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (DE), University of Oxford (GB), Institute of Particle Physics (CA), The Ohio State University (US), University of Rochester (US), The University of Adelaide (AU), Stony Brook University (US), Technical University of Munich (DE), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US), Chalmers University of Technology (SE), University of Maryland, College Park (US), Chung-Ang University (KR), Drexel University (US), The University of Tokyo (JP), Southern University (BD), Columbia University (US), Academia Sinica (TW), Sungkyunkwan University (KR), University of Delaware (US), Michigan State University (US), RWTH Aachen University (DE), Ruhr University Bochum (DE), UCLouvain (BE)
National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Nvidia, Michigan State University, Villum Fonden, Polarforskningssekretariatet, Marquette University, Western Canada Research Grid, European Commission, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, Fonds De La Recherche Scientifique - FNRS, Belgian Federal Science Policy Office, Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, Knut och Alice Wallenbergs Stiftelse, Vetenskapsrådet, RWTH Aachen University, Helmholtz Alliance for Astroparticle Physics, Alliance de recherche numérique du Canada, College of Engineering, Michigan State University, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Marsden Fund, Institute for Global Prominent Research, Chiba University, Office of Polar Programs, Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure, Office of Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research
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