Measurement of the atmospheric $ν_μ$ energy spectrum from 100 GeV to 200 TeV with the ANTARES telescope

The ANTARES Collaboration, S. Adrián-Martínez, A. Albert, I. Al Samarai, M. André, M. Anghinolfi, G. Anton, S. Anvar, M. Ardid, T. Astraatmadja, J-J. Aubert, B. Baret, J. Barrios-Martí, S. Basa, V. Bertin, S. Biagi, C. Bigongiari, C. Bogazzi, B. Bouhou, M. C. Bouwhuis, R. Bruijn, J. Brunner, J. Busto, A. Capone, L. Caramete, C. Carloganu, J. Carr, S. Cecchini, Z. Charif, Ph. Charvis, T. Chiarusi, M. Circella, F. Classen, L. Core, H. Costantini, P. Coyle, A. Creusot, C. Curtil, I. Dekeyser, A. Deschamps, G. De Bonis, M. P. Decowski, C. Distefano, C. Donzaud, D. Dornic, Q. Dorosti, D. Drouhin, A. Dumas, T. Eberl, U. Emanuele, A. Enzenhöfer, J-P. Ernenwein, S. Escoffier, K. Fehn, P. Fermani, V. Flaminio, F. Folger, U. Fritsch, L. A. Fusco, S. Galatà, P. Gay, S. Geisselsöder, K. Geyer, G. Giacomelli, V. Giordano, A. Gleixner, J. P. Gómez-González, K. Graf, G. Guillard, H. van Haren, A. J. Heijboer, Y. Hello, J. J. Hernández-Rey, B. Herold, J. Hössl, C. W. James, M. de Jong, M. Kadler, O. Kalekin, A. Kappes, U. Katz, P. Kooijman, A. Kouchner, I. Kreykenbohm, V. Kulikovskiy, R. Lahmann, E. Lambard, G. Lambard, G. Larosa, D. Lattuada, D. Lefèvre, E. Leonora, D. Lo Presti, H. Loehner, S. Loucatos, F. Louis, S. Mangano, M. Marcelin, A. Margiotta, J. A. Martínez-Mora, S. Martini, T. Michael, T. Montaruli, M. Morganti, H. Motz, C. Mueller, M. Neff, E. Nezri, D. Palioselitis, G. E. Pavalas, C. Perrina, P. Piattelli, V. Popa, T. Pradier, C. Racca, R. Richter, C. Rivière, A. Robert, K. Roensch, A. Rostovtsev, D. F. E. Samtleben, M. Sanguineti, P. Sapienza, J. Schmid, J. Schnabel, S. Schulte, F. Schüssler, T. Seitz, R. Shanidze, C. Sieger, F. Simeone, A. Spies, M. Spurio, J. J. M. Steijger, Th. Stolarczyk, A. Sánchez-Losa, M. Taiuti, C. Tamburini, Y. Tayalati, A. Trovato, B. Vallage, C. Vallée, V. Van Elewyck, P. Vernin, E. Visser, S. Wagner, J. Wilms, E. de Wolf, K. Yatkin, H. Yepes, J. D. Zornoza, J. Zúñiga

Published 2013-08-07Version 1

Atmospheric neutrinos are produced during cascades initiated by the interaction of primary cosmic rays with air nuclei. In this paper, a measurement of the atmospheric \nu_\mu + \bar{\nu}_\mu energy spectrum in the energy range 0.1 - 200 TeV is presented, using data collected by the ANTARES underwater neutrino telescope from 2008 to 2011. Overall, the measured flux is ~25% higher than predicted by the conventional neutrino flux, and compatible with the measurements reported in ice. The flux is compatible with a single power-law dependence with spectral index \gamma_{meas}=3.58\pm 0.12. With the present statistics the contribution of prompt neutrinos cannot be established.