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EUSO-SPB2 Cherenkov Telescope: Overview and First Neutrino Constraints
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EUSO-SPB2 Cherenkov Telescope: Overview and First Neutrino Constraints

Tobias Heibges, Diksha Garg, Claire Guépin, Julia Burton-Heibges, John F Krizmanic, Mary Hall Reno, Tonia M Venters and Lawrence Wiencke
ArXiv.org
Cornell University
11/14/2025
DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2511.10944
url
https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2511.10944View
Preprint (Author's original)This preprint has not been evaluated by subject experts through peer review. Preprints may undergo extensive changes and/or become peer-reviewed journal articles. Open Access

Abstract

Earth-skimming tau neutrinos with energies above ∼ 10 PeV can convert to tau leptons that decay in the atmosphere and initiate upward-going extensive air showers that generate optical Cherenkov signals. On a curtailed NASA balloon flight in May 2023, the Cherenkov telescope (CT) on the Extreme Universe Space Observatory on a Super Pressure Balloon 2 (EUSO-SPB2) was launched and had a short flight at ∼ 30 km altitude. With some time pointing below the Earth’s limb, EUSO-SPB2 CT data allow searches for neutrino events that yield optical flashes from the forward-beamed Cherenkov light. We present an overview of the CT and provide upper limits for the diffuse astrophysical neutrino flux from flight data as a proof-of-principle demonstration. We also briefly describe how the methodology is extended to potential transient neutrino point sources.
Physics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena

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