102 research outputs found
IceCube-Gen2: A Vision for the Future of Neutrino Astronomy in Antarctica
No full text20 pages, 12 figures. Address correspondence to: E. Blaufuss, F. Halzen, C. Kopper (Changed to add one missing author, no other changes from initial version.)20 pages, 12 figures. Address correspondence to: E. Blaufuss, F. Halzen, C. Kopper (Changed to add one missing author, no other changes from initial version.)20 pages, 12 figures. Address correspondence to: E. Blaufuss, F. Halzen, C. Kopper (Changed to add one missing author, no other changes from initial version.)The recent observation by the IceCube neutrino observatory of an astrophysical flux of neutrinos represents the "first light" in the nascent field of neutrino astronomy. The observed diffuse neutrino flux seems to suggest a much larger level of hadronic activity in the non-thermal universe than previously thought and suggests a rich discovery potential for a larger neutrino observatory. This document presents a vision for an substantial expansion of the current IceCube detector, IceCube-Gen2, including the aim of instrumenting a volume of clear glacial ice at the South Pole to deliver substantial increases in the astrophysical neutrino sample for all flavors. A detector of this size would have a rich physics program with the goal to resolve the sources of these astrophysical neutrinos, discover GZK neutrinos, and be a leading observatory in future multi-messenger astronomy programs
The IceCube Neutrino Observatory - Contributions to ICRC 2017 Part VI: IceCube-Gen2, the Next Generation Neutrino Observatory
No full textContents:
1 IceCube-Gen2: the next-generation neutrino observatory for the South Pole
2 IceAct: Imaging Air Cherenkov Telescopes with SiPMs at the South Pole for IceCube-Gen2
3 Overview and performance of the D-Egg optical sensor for IceCube-Gen2
4 Muon track reconstruction and veto performance with D-Egg sensor for IceCube-Gen2
5 In-ice self-veto techniques for IceCube-Gen2
6 A camera system for IceCube-Gen21
7 The mDOM – A multi-PMT Digital Optical Module for the IceCube-Gen2 neutrino telescope
8 The IceTop Scintillator Upgrade
9 Overview and Performance of the Wavelength-shifting Optical Module (WOM)
10 The Precision Optical CAlibration Module for IceCube-Gen2: First Prototype</p
Towards IceCube-Gen2: Plans for the in-ice radio array
No full textBuilding on the success of IceCube at the South Pole, the next generation experiment IceCube- Gen2 is taking shape. Next to an extension of the optical array, further developing the optical detector learning for the IceCube-Upgrade currently in preparation, IceCube-Gen2 is planned to feature a large in-ice radio array targeting neutrinos beyond PeV energies. This radio array will build on heritage from many former and existing radio neutrino experiments. It will dominate the sensitivity of IceCube-Gen2 at EeV energies, improving at least an order of magnitude in sensitivity over existing arrays. IceCube-Gen2 will also feature a much enlarged surface array, including in-air radio antennas targeting air showers. This contribution will highlight the current status of IceCube-Gen2 with a focus on the in-ice radio array
The Surface Array planned for IceCube-Gen2
No full textIceCube-Gen2, the extension of the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, will feature three main components: a 10km3 optical array in the deep ice, a large-scale radio array in the shallow ice and firn, and a surface detector above the optical array. Thus, IceCube-Gen2 will not only be an excellent detector for PeV neutrinos, but also constitutes a unique setup for the measurement of cosmic-ray air showers, where the electromagnetic component and low-energy muons are measured at the surface and high-energy muons are measured in the ice. As for ongoing enhancement of IceCube’s current surface array, IceTop, we foresee a combination of elevated scintillation and radio detectors for the Gen2 surface array, aiming at high measurement accuracy for air showers. The science goals are manifold: The in-situ measurement of the cosmic-ray flux and mass composition, as well as more thorough tests of hadronic interaction models, will improve the understanding of muons and atmospheric neutrinos detected in the ice. Moreover, the surface array provides a cosmic-ray veto for the in-ice detector and contributes to the calibration of the optical and radio arrays. Last but not least, the surface array will make major contributions to cosmic-ray science in the energy range of the transition from Galactic to extragalactic sources. The increased sensitivities for photons and for cosmic-ray anisotropies at multi-PeV energies provide a chance to solve the puzzle of the origin of the most energetic Galactic cosmic rays and will serve IceCube’s multimessenger mission
Cosmic-Ray Physics in the PeV to EeV Energy Range with the IceCube-Gen2 Surface Array
No full textIceCube-Gen2 is a proposed neutrino observatory at the South Pole that will build on the success of IceCube and will also serve as a unique detector for cosmic-ray air showers.
Analogous to the IceTop surface array over IceCube’s deep optical detector, IceCube-Gen2 will also feature a surface array above an optical array deep in the ice. As improvement over IceTop, the IceCube-Gen2 surface array will be comprised of elevated detectors to avoid snow coverage, and will combine two types of detectors: scintillation panels that measure air-shower particles on ground and enable a low detection threshold, which is important to serve as a veto for selecting downgoing neutrino candidates; and radio antennas which increase the measurement accuracy for air showers by providing a calorimetric measurement of the electromagnetic shower component and its depth of maximum, Xmax. As another major advantage, the eight times larger surface area combined with a larger field of view will provide a 30-fold increase for the aperture of surface-deep coincident events. With these improvements in statistics and measurement accuracy, IceCube-Gen2 will thus make unique contributions to the particle physics and astrophysics of Galactic cosmic rays in the PeV to EeV energy range, including the search for PeV photon sources. This proceeding will summarize the technical design and science case enabled by the IceCube-Gen2 Surface Array
Science Potential and Technical Design of the IceCube-Gen2 Surface Array
No full textIceCube-Gen2, the next generation extension of the IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the South Pole, offers a unique scientific potential for cosmic-ray physics at PeV to EeV energies complementing the main science case of neutrino astronomy. The cosmic-ray science case will be enabled by a surface array on top of an extended optical array deep in the polar ice. The optical array measures TeV muons of air showers, and the surface array primarily measures the electromagnetic shower component and low-energy muons. The design of the surface array foresees scintillation panels providing a full-efficiency threshold for near-vertical proton showers of 0.5 PeV and radio antennas increasing the measurement accuracy for the electromagnetic shower component in the energy range of the Galactic-to-extragalactic transition. Compared to IceCube, the aperture for air showers measured in coincidence with the surface and optical arrays will increase by a factor of 30, due to the larger area and angular acceptance in zenith angle. The science potential includes both, the particle physics of air showers, such as prompt muons, and the astrophysics of the highest energy Galactic cosmic-rays, enabled by the higher sensitivity for the mass composition and anisotropy of cosmic rays, and by the search for PeV photons. This proceeding summarizes the science case and design of the surface array as presented in the recently released IceCube-Gen2 Technical Design Report: https://icecube-gen2.wisc.edu/science/publications/tdr
Direction reconstruction for the in-ice radio array of IceCube-Gen2
No full textThe IceCube-Gen2 facility will extend the energy range of IceCube to ultra-high energies. The key component to detect neutrinos with energies above 10 PeV is a large array of in-ice radio detectors. In previous work, direction reconstruction algorithms using the forward-folding technique have been developed for both shallow ( m) and deep in-ice detectors, and have also been successfully used to reconstruct cosmic rays with ARIANNA. Here, we focus on the reconstruction algorithm for the deep in-ice detector, which was recently introduced in the context of the Radio Neutrino Observatory in Greenland (RNO-G). We discuss the performance-critical aspects of the algorithm, as well as recent and future improvements, and apply it to study the performance of a station of the IceCube-Gen2 in-ice radio array. We obtain the angular resolution, which turns out to be strongly asymmetric, and use this to optimize the configuration of a single station
IceCube-Gen2 Surface Array: Science Case and Plans
No full textIceCube-Gen2 will be a next-generation extension of the IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the South Pole. In addition to a deep Optical Array and a Radio Array for PeV neutrino astronomy, IceCube-Gen2 will feature a Surface Array to enhance the neutrino science and to provide additional cosmic-ray science. The IceCube-Gen2 Surface Array will consist of elevated scintillation panels and radio antennas above the Optical Array and will detect cosmic-ray air showers in the PeV to EeV energy range. Compared to IceCube, the measurement accuracy at the surface will be enhanced due to the combination of radio and particle detection, and the aperture for surface-deep coincident events will be increased by about a factor of 30. This contribution will present the science case of the IceCube-Gen2 Surface Array and discuss the planned design recently published in the Technical Design Report: https://icecube-gen2.wisc.edu/science/publications/tdr
IceCube-Gen2: the next-generation neutrino observatory for the South Pole
No full textThe IceCube Neutrino Observatory is a cubic-kilometer Cherenkov telescope buried in the icesheet at the South Pole that detects neutrinos of all flavors with energies from tens of GeV to sev-eral PeV. The instrument provided the first measurement of the flux of high-energy astrophysicalneutrinos, opening a new window to the non-thermal universe. Here we present design studiesfor IceCube-Gen2, the next-generation neutrino observatory for the South Pole. IceCube-Gen2will have an instrumented volume nearly 10 times greater than IceCube alone, substantially in-creasing sensitivity to high-energy neutrinos. On the surface, a large air shower detector willveto high-energy atmospheric muons and neutrinos from the southern hemisphere, enhancing thereach of astrophysical neutrino searches. In the ice, a number of new optical module designscurrently being evaluated will allow for substantially increased photosensitive area per unit cost.We show how these different sensor designs affect the instrument’s ability to resolve the sourcesof astrophysical neutrinos
The IceCube-Gen2 Project
No full textSince its completion in 2011, the IceCube Neutrino Observatory has opened a new window on the extreme Universe. Building on its success in multi-messenger astronomy and particle physics, the collaboration is now pursuing a major extension: the IceCube-Gen2 facility. IceCube-Gen2 will be a unique wide-band neutrino observatory (MeV–EeV) that employs two complementary detection technologies for neutrinos, optical and radio, in combination with a surface detector array for CR air showers to exploit a large range of scientific opportunities. This contribution provides an introduction to the project as well as a status report.</p
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