scholarly journals IceCube: A Kilometer-Scale Neutrino Observatory at the South Pole

2005 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 949-950
Author(s):  
Francis Halzen

AbstractSolving the century-old puzzle of how and where cosmic rays are accelerated mostly drives the design of high-energy neutrino telescopes. It calls, along with a diversity of science goals reaching particle physics, astrophysics and cosmology, for the construction of a kilometer-scale neutrino detector. This led to the IceCube concept to transform a kilometer cube of transparent Antarctic Ice, one mile below the South Pole, into a neutrino telescope.

2006 ◽  
Vol 21 (08n09) ◽  
pp. 1914-1924
Author(s):  
PER OLOF HULTH

The Neutrino Telescopes NT-200 in Lake Baikal, Russia and AMANDA at the South Pole, Antarctica have now opened the field of High Energy Neutrino Astronomy. Several other Neutrino telescopes are in the process of being constructed or very near realization. Several thousands of atmospheric neutrinos have been observed with energies up to several 100 TeV but so far no evidence for extraterrestrial neutrinos has been found.


2005 ◽  
Vol 20 (14) ◽  
pp. 3096-3098 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
ANDREA SILVESTRI

We present recent results from the Antarctic Muon And Neutrino Detector Array (AMANDA), located at the South Pole in Antarctica. AMANDA-II, commissioned in 2000, is a multipurpose high energy neutrino telescope with a broad physics and astrophysics scope. We summarize the results from searches for a variety of sources of ultra-high energy neutrinos: TeV-PeV diffuse sources by measuring either muon tracks or cascades, neutrinos in excess of PeV by searching for muons traveling in the down-going direction and point sources.


2000 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-17
Author(s):  
Jenni Adams

AbstractIt is hoped that in the near future neutrino astronomy will reach throughout and beyond our galaxy and make measurements relevant to cosmology, astrophysics, cosmic-ray and particle physics. The construction of a high-energy neutrino telescope requires a huge volume of very transparent, deeply buried material such as ocean water or ice, which acts as the medium for detecting the particles. I will describe two experiments using Antarctic ice as this medium: the AMANDA experiment employing photomultiplier tubes and RICE utilising radio receivers.


2002 ◽  
Vol 17 (31) ◽  
pp. 2019-2037 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
CHRISTOPHER WIEBUSCH ◽  
J. AHRENS ◽  
X. BAI ◽  
S. W. BARWICK ◽  
...  

The Antarctic Muon and Neutrino Detector Array (AMANDA) is a high-energy neutrino telescope operating at the geographic South Pole. It is a lattice of photo-multiplier tubes buried deep in the polar ice. The primary goal of this detector is to discover astrophysical sources of high energy neutrinos. We describe the detector methods of operation and present results from the AMANDA-B10 prototype. We demonstrate the improved sensitivity of the current AMANDA-II detector. We conclude with an outlook to the envisioned sensitivity of the future IceCube detector.


1995 ◽  
Vol 41 (139) ◽  
pp. 445-454
Author(s):  

AbstractThe first four strings of phototubes for the AMANDA high-energy neutrino observatory are now frozen in place at a depth of 800-1000 m in ice at the South Pole, During the 1995-96 season, as many as six more strings will be deployed at greater depths. Provided absorption, scattering and refraction of visible light are sufficiently small, the trajectory of a muon into which a neutrino converts can be determined by using the array of phototubes to measure the arrival times of Cherenkov light emitted by the muon. To help in deciding on the depth for implantation of the six new strings, we discuss models of age vs depth for South Pole ice, we estimate mean free paths for scattering from bubbles and dust as a function of depth and we assess distortion of light paths due to refraction at crystal boundaries and interfaces between air-hydrate inclusions and normal ice. We conclude that the interval 1600-2100 m will be suitably transparent for a future 1 km3 observatory except possibly in a region a few tens of meters thick at a depth corresponding to a peak in the dust concentration at 60 k year BP.


2019 ◽  
Vol 216 ◽  
pp. 02010
Author(s):  
Keiichi Mase ◽  
Daisuke Ikeda ◽  
Aya Ishihara ◽  
Hiroyuki Sagawa ◽  
Tatsunobu Shibata ◽  
...  

To observe high energy cosmogenic neutrinos above 50 PeV, the large neutrino telescope ARA is being built at the South Pole. The ARA telescope detects neutrinos by observing radio signals by the Askaryan effect. We performed an experiment using 40 MeV electron beams of the Telescope Array Electron Light Source to verify the understanding of the Askaryan emission as well as the detector responses used in the ARA experiment. Clear coherent polarized radio signals were observed with and without an ice target. We found that the observed radio signals are consistent with simulation, showing that our understanding of the radio emissions and the detector responses are within the systematic uncertainties of the ARAcalTA experiment which is at the level of 30%.


2013 ◽  
Vol 28 (02) ◽  
pp. 1340004
Author(s):  
ALBRECHT KARLE

The origin of highest energy cosmic rays remains unresolved. High-energy neutrinos may provide the clues to fundamental phenomena such as the origin of cosmic rays or dark matter in the Universe. The IceCube Neutrino Observatory, a km scale neutrino detector, has come into full operation in 2011. At the highest energy levels, prototypes of a new experiment, the Askaryan Radio Array, have been deployed and are being tested. We report on the status, first results and prospects of the experimental neutrino searches under way and planned at the South Pole.


1995 ◽  
Vol 41 (139) ◽  
pp. 445-454 ◽  
Author(s):  

AbstractThe first four strings of phototubes for the AMANDA high-energy neutrino observatory are now frozen in place at a depth of 800-1000 m in ice at the South Pole, During the 1995-96 season, as many as six more strings will be deployed at greater depths. Provided absorption, scattering and refraction of visible light are sufficiently small, the trajectory of a muon into which a neutrino converts can be determined by using the array of phototubes to measure the arrival times of Cherenkov light emitted by the muon. To help in deciding on the depth for implantation of the six new strings, we discuss models of age vs depth for South Pole ice, we estimate mean free paths for scattering from bubbles and dust as a function of depth and we assess distortion of light paths due to refraction at crystal boundaries and interfaces between air-hydrate inclusions and normal ice. We conclude that the interval 1600-2100 m will be suitably transparent for a future 1 km3observatory except possibly in a region a few tens of meters thick at a depth corresponding to a peak in the dust concentration at 60 k year BP.


2021 ◽  
Vol 81 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
C. J. Lozano Mariscal ◽  
L. Classen ◽  
M. A. Unland Elorrieta ◽  
A. Kappes

AbstractNew optical sensors with a segmented photosensitive area are being developed for the next generation of neutrino telescopes at the South Pole. In addition to increasing sensitivity to high-energy astrophysical neutrinos, we show that this will also lead to a significant improvement in sensitivity to MeV neutrinos, such as those produced in core-collapse supernovae (CCSN). These low-energy neutrinos can provide a detailed picture of the events after stellar core collapse, testing our understanding of these violent explosions. We present studies on the event-based detection of MeV neutrinos with a segmented sensor and, for the first time, the potential of a corresponding detector in the deep ice at the South Pole for the detection of extra-galactic CCSN. We find that exploiting temporal coincidences between signals in different photocathode segments, a $$27\ \mathrm {M}_{\odot }$$ 27 M ⊙ progenitor mass CCSN can be detected up to a distance of 341 kpc with a false detection rate of $${0.01}\,\hbox {year}^{-1}$$ 0.01 year - 1 with a detector consisting of 10,000 sensors. Increasing the number of sensors to 20,000 and reducing the optical background by a factor of 70 expands the range such that a CCSN detection rate of 0.1 per year is achieved, while keeping the false detection rate at $${0.01}\,{\hbox {year}^{-1}}$$ 0.01 year - 1 .


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