Abstract:
Ultrahigh-energy neutrino events in large Cherenkov neutrino telescopes are broadly classed as either muons or cascades, depending on the interaction mode and neutrino flavor. Typically, searches for extraterrestrial neutrinos have focused on detecting neutrino-induced muons because the large muon range in dense matter increases the effective target volume. However, searches in the cascade channel excel at energy resolution and have lower systematics associated with background. This talk will discuss these and other unique features of cascade events, and will give a report on the status of cascade analyses at the AMANDA and Lake Baikal neutrino telescopes.