LIMIT ON UHE NEUTRINO FLUXES FROM THE PIERRE AUGER OBSERVATORY

Abstract

The surface detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory is sensitive to Ultra High Energy (UHE) neutrinos. Neutrinos of all flavors can interact in the atmosphere producing inclined showers near the ground. Moreover, ultra high energy Earth-skimming tau neutrinos can be observed through the detection of showers induced by the decay of tau leptons created by interactions in the Earth’s crust. In both cases, neutrino showers can be identified through the time structure of the signals in the surface detector stations. Two sets of identification criteria have been designed to search for down-going and up-going neutrinos in the recorded data, with no candidates found. We will discuss the identification criteria used, and we will present the corresponding limits on the diffuse and point source neutrino fluxes.