ASTROPHYSICAL-NEUTRINO DETECTION WITH ANGULAR AND ENERGY RESOLUTION

We investigate the improvement in sensitivity to astrophysical sources (point-like or extended) of energetic (greater than or similar to 1 G eV) neutrinos which can be achieved with angular and/or energy resolut ion of the neutrino-induced muon. As a specific example we consider WI MP annihilation in the Sun and in the Earth as a neutrino source. The sensitivity is improved by using the angular and energy distribution t o reduce the atmospheric-neutrino background. Although the specific im provements depend on the backgrounds and assumed sources, the sensitiv ity to a WIMP signal may be improved, with equal exposure, by up to ro ughly a factor of two with good angular resolution, and by up to rough ly a factor of three with good energy resolution. In case of a positiv e detection, energy resolution would also improve the measurement of t he neutrino energy spectrum and therefore provide information on the W IMP mass and composition. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.