Searching for Astrophysical Tau Neutrinos in the Andes

IceCube’s discovery of astrophysical neutrinos, and subsequent characterization of their energy spectrum up to a few PeV, has provided a new window into the high-energy Universe. However, many opportunities for discovery remain; low sample sizes still plague measurements of astrophysical neutrinos above 1 PeV, and flavor measurements are challenging due to the diffi-culty in differentiating tau events from other flavors. A series of next-generation experiments aim to provide a novel aperture into the under-explored component of the high-energy neutrino spectrum. Among them is TAMBO (Tau Air-Shower Mountain-Based Observatory), a proposed water-Cherenkov detector set on a valley-side in the high Peruvian Andes. Utilizing the unique geometry of the Colca alley, TAMBO is situated to produce a high-purity sample of 1–100 PeV astrophysical tau neutrino events. In this contribution, I will discuss recent progress and highlight the prospects and challenges of astrophysical tau neutrino detection in the next generation of neutrino experiments.