Advanced Instrumentation Seminar - Justin Vandenbroucke (UC Berkeley)

What	seminar
When	14 May 08 from 01:30 pm to 02:30 pm
Where	Kavli Auditorium
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Pop goes the neutrino: acoustic detection of astrophysical neutrinos

Interest has grown recently in experimental searches for neutrinos of

astrophysical origin, in particular the ~10^18 eV neutrinos generated

by interactions of the highest energy cosmic rays with the cosmic

microwave background. Detecting ~100 of these neutrinos in order to

build sky maps and energy spectra would contribute significantly to

resolving the mystery of the highest energy cosmic rays and would test

fundamental particle physics at ~100 TeV center of mass energy.

However, new techniques are necessary to achieve the desired effective

volume of ~100 km^3. In dense media such as ice, water, and salt,

neutrino-induced particle showers heat the medium locally causing it

to expand and emit a shock wave that is detectable as acoustic

radiation in the 10-60 kHz band. South Pole ice in particular is

predicted to have low acoustic attenuation and background noise,

making the method significantly more sensitive than the optical

Cherenkov technique above 10^18 eV. The South Pole Acoustic Test Setup

was installed in three IceCube holes in 2007-2008 to determine the

feasibility of acoustic neutrino detection at South Pole. I will

discuss the installed instrumentation and the results we have obtained

so far.

July 2008

KIPAC