Paper detail

Measuring the 13-mixing angle and the CP phase with neutrino telescopes

The observed excess of high-energy cosmic rays from the Galactic plane in the energy range \sim 10^18 eV may be naturally explained by neutron primaries generated in the photo-dissociation of heavy nuclei. In this scenario, neutrons with lower energy decay before reaching the Earth and produce a detectable flux in a 1 km^3 neutrino telescope. The initial flavor composition of these neutrinos, ϕ(\barν_e):ϕ(\barν_μ):ϕ(\barν_τ)=1:0:0, offers the opportunity to perform a combined \barν_μ/\barν_τappearance and \barν_e disappearance experiment. The observable ratio ϕ(\barν_μ)/ϕ(\barν_e+\barν_τ) of fluxes arriving on Earth depends appreciably on the 13-mixing angle θ_13 and the leptonic CP phase δ_CP, opening thus a new experimental avenue to measure these two quantities.