Observation of an Unusual Upward-Going Cosmic-Ray-like Event in the Third Flight of ANITA

P W Gorham; B Rotter; P Allison; O Banerjee; L Batten; J J Beatty; K Bechtol; K Belov; D Z Besson; W R Binns; V Bugaev; P Cao; C C Chen; C H Chen; P Chen; J M Clem; A Connolly; L Cremonesi; B Dailey; C Deaconu; P F Dowkontt; B D Fox; J W H Gordon; C Hast; B Hill; K Hughes; J J Huang; R Hupe; M H Israel; A Javaid; J Lam; K M Liewer; S Y Lin; T C Liu; A Ludwig; L Macchiarulo; S Matsuno; C Miki; K Mulrey; J Nam; C J Naudet; R J Nichol; A Novikov; E Oberla; M Olmedo; R Prechelt; S Prohira; B F Rauch; J M Roberts; A Romero-Wolf; J W Russell; D Saltzberg; D Seckel; H Schoorlemmer; J Shiao; S Stafford; J Stockham; M Stockham; B Strutt; G S Varner; A G Vieregg; S H Wang; S A Wissel

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.161102

Observation of an Unusual Upward-Going Cosmic-Ray-like Event in the Third Flight of ANITA

Phys Rev Lett. 2018 Oct 19;121(16):161102. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.161102.

Authors

P W Gorham¹, B Rotter¹, P Allison², O Banerjee², L Batten³, J J Beatty², K Bechtol⁴, K Belov⁵, D Z Besson^{6

7}, W R Binns⁸, V Bugaev⁸, P Cao⁹, C C Chen¹⁰, C H Chen¹⁰, P Chen¹⁰, J M Clem⁹, A Connolly², L Cremonesi³, B Dailey², C Deaconu⁴, P F Dowkontt⁸, B D Fox¹, J W H Gordon², C Hast¹¹, B Hill¹, K Hughes², J J Huang¹⁰, R Hupe², M H Israel⁸, A Javaid⁹, J Lam¹², K M Liewer⁵, S Y Lin¹⁰, T C Liu¹⁰, A Ludwig⁴, L Macchiarulo¹, S Matsuno¹, C Miki¹, K Mulrey⁹, J Nam¹⁰, C J Naudet⁵, R J Nichol³, A Novikov^{6

7}, E Oberla⁴, M Olmedo¹, R Prechelt¹, S Prohira⁶, B F Rauch⁸, J M Roberts¹, A Romero-Wolf⁵, J W Russell¹, D Saltzberg¹², D Seckel⁹, H Schoorlemmer¹, J Shiao¹⁰, S Stafford², J Stockham⁶, M Stockham⁶, B Strutt¹², G S Varner¹, A G Vieregg⁴, S H Wang¹⁰, S A Wissel¹³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Hawaii, Manoa, Hawaii 96822, USA.
² Department of Physics, Center for Cosmology and AstroParticle Physics, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA.
³ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom.
⁴ Department of Physics, Enrico Fermi Institute, Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA.
⁵ Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California 91109, USA.
⁶ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66045, USA.
⁷ National Research Nuclear University, MEPhI (Moscow Engineering Physics Institute), Kashirskoe shosse 31, Moscow 115409, Russian Federation.
⁸ Department of Physics & McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri 63130, USA.
⁹ Department of Physics, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware 19716, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Physics, Graduate Institute. of Astrophysics, & Leung Center for Cosmology and Particle Astrophysics, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan.
¹¹ SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA.
¹² Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA.
¹³ Physics Department, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, California 93407, USA.

PMID: 30387639
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.161102

Abstract

We report on an upward traveling, radio-detected cosmic-ray-like impulsive event with characteristics closely matching an extensive air shower. This event, observed in the third flight of the Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna (ANITA), a NASA-sponsored long-duration balloon payload, is consistent with a similar event reported in a previous flight. These events could be produced by the atmospheric decay of an upward-propagating τ lepton produced by a ν_{τ} interaction, although their relatively steep arrival angles create tension with the standard model neutrino cross section. Each of the two events have a posteriori background estimates of ≲10^{-2} events. If these are generated by τ-lepton decay, then either the charged-current ν_{τ} cross section is suppressed at EeV energies, or the events arise at moments when the peak flux of a transient neutrino source was much larger than the typical expected cosmogenic background neutrinos.