Abstract. We have investigated the possibility of ν_τ detection using a cosmic ray tau neutrino telescope (CRTNT) based on air shower fluorescence/Cerenkov light detector techniques. This approach requires an interaction of a ν_τ with material such as a mountain or the earth's crust. A τ lepton produced in the charged current interaction must escape from the earth and then decay and initiate a shower in the air. The probability for the conversion from ν_τ to air shower has been calculated for an energy range from 1 PeV to 10 EeV. An air shower simulation programme has been developed using the simulation package Corsika. The trigger efficiency has been estimated for a CRTNT detector similar to the HiRes/Dice detector in the shadow of Mt Wheeler in Nevada, USA. A rate of about eight triggered events per year is expected for the AGN neutrino source model with an optimized configuration and duty cycle of the detector.

Print publication: Issue 7 (July 2005)
Received 20 November 2004
Published 21 April 2005