Work

TeV-scale neutrino cross-section measurement using upward through-going muons in Super-Kamiokande

Year: 2026

Type: preprint

Abstract: Neutrinos provide a unique probe of both particle physics and the high-energy universe, traversing astronomical distances with minimal interaction. Their charged-current scattering cross section encodes fundamental information about weak interactions and nucleon structure across a vast energy range, yet measurements at TeV energies remain sparse. Here we report the first determination of the flux-averaged muon neutrino and anti-neutrino charged-current total cross section using high-energy atmospheric neutrinos observed in Super-Kamiokande. Using 3989 upward through-going muon events collected over 4269 days, together with a Bayesian fit to atmospheric flux and detector simulations, we measure the flux-averaged charged-current cross section in the 500-5000 GeV range to be $σ/E_ν=(0.51\pm 0.11)\times 10^{-38}$ cm$^2$GeV$^{-1}$, with the highest precision to date in the TeV regime. Our results are consistent with accelerator-based measurements at lower energies and collider-based measurements at higher energies, bridging a critical gap between accelerator experiments and neutrino telescopes. This work demonstrates the capability of large underground detectors to perform precision cross-section measurements with atmospheric neutrinos, opening a new window for probing Standard Model physics and potential new physics searches at multi-TeV energies.

Source: arXiv (Cornell University)

DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2605.10221

Authors: Bhuiyan, N., Abe, K., Asaoka, Y., Harada, M., Hayato, Y., Hiraide, K., Hung, T. H., Ieki, K., Ikeda, M., Kameda, J., Kanemura, Y., Kataoka, Y., Miki, S., Mine, S., Miura, M., Moriyama, S., Nakagiri, K., Nakahata, M., Nakayama, S., Noguchi, Y., Pronost, G., Sato, K., Sekiya, H., Shinoda, R., Shiozawa, M., Suzuki, Y., Takeda, A., Takemoto, Y., Tanaka, H., Yano, T., Chen, S., Itow, Y., Kajita, T., Nishijima, R., Okumura, K., Tashiro, T., Tomiya, T., Wang, X., Fernandez, P., Arcones, F. J. de Garay, Labarga, L., Samudio, D., Zaldivar, B., Yanagisawa, C., Jargowsky, B., Kearns, E., Mirabito, J., Wan, L., Wester, T., Pointon, B. W., Bian, J., Cortez, B., Griskevich, N. J., Jiang, Y., Smy, M. B., Sobel, H. W., Takhistov, V., Yankelevich, A., Hill, J., Moon, D. H., Park, R. G., Yang, B. S., Scholberg, K., Walter, C. W., Drapier, O., Ershova, A., Ferey, M., Blévec, E. Le, Mueller, Th. A., Paganini, P., Quach, C., Rogly, R., Nakamura, T., Jang, J. S., Litchfield, R. P., Machado, L. N., Soler, F. J. P., Learned, J. G., Choi, K., Cao, S., Anthony, L. H. V., Prouse, N. W., Scott, M., Uchida, Y., Berardi, V., Calabria, N. F., Catanesi, M. G., Ospina, N., Radicioni, E., Langella, A., De Rosa, G., Collazuol, G., Feltre, M., Mattiazzi, M., Ludovici, L., Gonin, M., Périssé, L., Quilain, B., Fukazawa, M., Horiuchi, S., Kawabata, A., Kobayashi, M., Liu, Y. M., Maekawa, Y., Nishimura, Y., Oka, A., Akutsu, R., Friend, M., Hasegawa, T., Hino, Y., Ishida, T., Kobayashi, T., Matsubara, T., Nakadaira, T., Oyama, Y., Yrey, A. Portocarrero, Sakashita, K., Sekiguchi, T., Burton, G. T., Di Lodovico, F., Katori, T., Kralik, R., Latham, N., Ramsden, R. M., Siccardi, V., Aoyama, S., Banbara, H., Inaba, Y., Ito, H., Nishigami, M., Sone, T., Suzuki, A. T., Takeuchi, Y., Wada, S., Zhong, H., Feng, J., Feng, L., Han, S., Hikida, J., Hu, J. R., Hu, Z., Kawaue, M., Kikawa, T., Nakaya, T., Ngoc, T. V., Wendell, R. A., Jenkins, S. J., McCauley, N., Tarrant, A., Fanì, M., Wilking, M. J., Xie, Z., Fukuda, Y., Menjo, H., Yoshioka, Y., Lagoda, J., Mandal, M., Zalipska, J., Mori, M., Jiang, J., Asano, Y., Hamaguchi, K., Ishino, H., Koshio, Y., Nakanishi, F., Ohshita, S., Tada, T., Ishizuka, T., Barr, G., Barrow, D., Cook, L., Samani, S., Wark, D., Holin, A., Nova, F., Jo, M., Jung, S., Yoo, J., Fannon, J. E. P., Kneale, L., Peacock, T., Stowell, P., Okazawa, H., Lakshmi, S. M., Hong, S., Kwon, E., Lee, M. W., Seo, J. W., Yu, I., Ashida, Y., Ichikawa, A. K., Nakamura, K. D., Abe, S., Goto, S., Kodama, S., Kong, Y., Hayasaki, H., Masaki, Y., Mizuno, Y., Muro, T., Nakagiri, K., Nakajima, Y., Sekiyama, M., Taniuchi, N., Yamazumi, T., Yokoyama, M., de Perio, P., Fujita, S., Jesús-Valls, C., Martens, K., Marti, Ll., Santos, A. D., Tsui, K. M., Vagins, M. R., Izumiyama, S., Kuze, M., Matsumoto, R., Asaka, R., Ise, C., Ishitsuka, M., Sugo, M., Wako, M., Yamauchi, K., Nakano, Y., Cormier, F., Gaur, R., Hartz, M., Konaka, A., Li, X., Smithers, B. R., Chen, S., Wu, Y., Xu, B. D., Zhang, A. Q., Zhang, B., Adhikary, H., Girgus, M., Govindaraj, P., Posiadala-Zezula, M., Prabhu, Y. S., Boyd, S. B., Edwards, R., Hadley, D., O'Flaherty, M., Richards, B., Ali, A., Jamieson, B., Bronner, C., Horiguchi, D., Minamino, A., Sasaki, Y., Shibayama, R., Shimamura, R.

Institutions: King's College London, Tokyo University of Science, Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe, Yokohama National University, University of Warwick, University of Toyama, Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, Kamioka Observatory, Institute of Science Tokyo, The University of Tokyo Institutes for Advanced Study, University of Warsaw, The University of Tokyo, Tsinghua University, University of California, Irvine, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, State University of New York, Borough of Manhattan Community College, City University of New York, Stony Brook University, Boston University, British Columbia Institute of Technology, High Energy Accelerator Research Organization, California State University, Dominguez Hills, Chonnam National University, Duke University, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, École Polytechnique, Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules, Laboratoire Leprince-Ringuet, Gifu University, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, University of Glasgow, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, University of Hawaii System, Institute for Basic Science, International Centre for Interdisciplinary Science and Education, Imperial College London, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Bari, Polytechnic University of Bari, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Napoli, University of Padua, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Padova, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Roma I, International Laboratory for Astrophysics, Neutrino and Cosmology Experiments, Keio University, Kobe University, Kyoto University, University of Liverpool, University of Minnesota, Miyagi University of Education, Institute for Space-Earth Environmental Research, Nagoya University, Kobayashi-Maskawa Institute for the Origin of Particles and the Universe, Nagoya University, National Centre for Nuclear Research, National Institute of Technology, Numazu College, Okayama University, Osaka Electro-Communication University, University of Oxford, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Science and Technology Facilities Council, Daresbury Laboratory, Seoul National University, University of Sheffield, Shizuoka University of Welfare, University of Silesia in Katowice, Sungkyunkwan University, Tohoku University, Sapienza University of Rome

Language: English

Topic: Neutrino Physics Research

Subfield: Nuclear and High Energy Physics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, European Commission, National Research Foundation, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, National Natural Science Foundation of China, National Research Foundation of Korea, Narodowym Centrum Nauki, Institute for Basic Science, Horizon 2020 Framework Programme, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Science and Technology Facilities Council, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Nuclear Physics

OpenAlex ID: W7160941919

Cites: 5

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Related to: 10