On the compatibility of the IceCube results with a universal neutrino spectrum

Abstract

Abstract There is mounting evidence that the IceCube findings cannot be described simply invoking a single power-law spectrum for cosmic neutrinos. We discuss which the minimal modifications are of the spectrum that are required by the existing observations and we obtain a universal cosmic neutrino spectrum, i.e. valid for all neutrino flavors. Our approach to such task can be outlined in three points: (1) we rely on the throughgoing muon analysis above 200 TeV and on the high-energy starting events (HESE) analysis below this energy, requiring the continuity of the spectrum; (2) we assume that cosmic neutrinos are subject to three-flavor neutrino oscillations in vacuum; (3) we make no assumption on the astrophysical mechanism of production, except for no $$\nu _\tau $$ ντ $$(\overline{\nu }_\tau )$$ (ν¯τ) component at the source. We test our model using the information provided by HESE shower-like events and by the lack of double pulses and resonant events. We find that a two-component power-law spectrum is compatible with all observations. The model agrees with the standard picture of pion decay as a source of neutrinos, and indicates a slight preference for a $$p\gamma $$ pγ mechanism of production. We discuss the tension between the HESE and the “throughgoing muons” datasets around few tens TeV, focussing on the angular distributions of the spectra. The expected number of smoking-gun signatures of $$\nu _\tau $$ ντ -induced events (referred to as double pulses) is quantified: in the baseline model we predict 0.65 double pulse events in 5.7 years. Uncertainties in the predictions are quantified.