article · Nature
Neutrinos are electrically neutral particles that travel across space without deflection from magnetic fields or absorption by matter, making them valuable for studying distant astrophysical events. The deep-sea KM3NeT neutrino telescope in the Mediterranean Sea has detected an exceptionally high-energy event linked to a cosmic neutrino. The instrument recorded a muon with an estimated energy of 120 petaelectronvolts on a near-horizontal path, pointing to an interaction with an incoming neutrino of even greater energy near the detector. This observed energy significantly exceeds any neutrino detected previously, contrasting with the steeply falling energy spectrum observed to date. The detection suggests that the particle could originate from an entirely distinct type of cosmic accelerator or represent the first recorded cosmogenic neutrino, produced by interactions between ultra-high-energy cosmic rays and background photons in space.
Cosmic neutrinos travel vast distances across the universe without being diverted by magnetic fields, offering direct information about extreme astrophysical environments. Detecting a neutrino at unprecedented energy levels helps scientists identify how and where the most powerful cosmic rays are accelerated, deepening our understanding of fundamental physical processes in the distant universe.
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The detection of cosmic neutrinos with energies above a teraelectronvolt (TeV) offers a unique exploration into astrophysical phenomena1–3. 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 $$12{0}_{-60}^{+110}$$ 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 now5–7 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. A very high-energy muon observed by the KM3NeT experiment in the Mediterranean Sea is evidence for the interaction of an exceptionally high-energy neutrino of cosmic origin.
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-08543-1
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