# Bump-hunting in the diffuse flux of high-energy cosmic neutrinos

**Authors:** Damano F. G. Fiorillo, Mauricio Bustamante  
**arXiv:** [2301.00024](https://arxiv.org/abs/2301.00024)  
**Date:** 2022-12-30  
**Summary page:** https://www.summarizepaper.com/en/paper/2301.00024v1/

## Key points

- Researchers investigated the origin of high-energy astrophysical neutrinos with TeV--PeV energies
- Neutrinos may exhibit a bump-like feature in their diffuse flux centered around a characteristic energy if produced through photohadronic interactions
- 7.5 years of High-Energy Starting Events (HESE) data collected by the IceCube neutrino telescope was analyzed to test this hypothesis
- No evidence of bump-like features was found in the present-day data, allowing researchers to set constraints on candidate populations of photohadronic neutrino sources
- Near-future forecasts show potential for stringent constraints or even discovery of bump-like features
- This study emphasizes the importance of investigating different mechanisms for producing high-energy astrophysical neutrinos and provides valuable information for future research on this topic.

## Summary

In a recent study titled "Bump-hunting in the Diffuse Flux of High-Energy Cosmic Neutrinos," researchers Damano F. G. Fiorillo and Mauricio Bustamante investigated the origin of high-energy astrophysical neutrinos with TeV--PeV energies, which remain largely unknown. The researchers proposed that if these neutrinos are produced through photohadronic interactions (proton-photon) in astrophysical sources, they may exhibit a bump-like feature in their diffuse flux centered around a characteristic energy. To test this hypothesis, the researchers analyzed 7.5 years of High-Energy Starting Events (HESE) data collected by the IceCube neutrino telescope and made forecasts using larger data samples from upcoming neutrino telescopes. The present-day data revealed no evidence of bump-like features, allowing the researchers to set constraints on candidate populations of photohadronic neutrino sources. However, near-future forecasts show potential for stringent constraints or even discovery of bump-like features. These results provide new insight into the origins of high-energy astrophysical neutrinos and complement those from point source searches. Overall, this study emphasizes the importance of investigating different mechanisms for producing high-energy astrophysical neutrinos and provides valuable information for future research on this topic.