IceCube: Detecting neutrinos with ns precision within a km3 of ice

by David Nygren (SU Fysikum)

Thursday 3 Apr 2008, 10:00 → 11:00 Europe/Stockholm

IceCube is under construction at Antarctica’s South Pole, and is about half complete. About 1km3 of the deep polar ice will be instrumented for detection of optical Cerenkov radiation, generated by the charged products of high energy neutrino interactions. The energy range of interest spans many decades, from a few tens of GeV up to EeV, adding dynamic range to the engineering challenges. “Digital Optical Modules”, organized in a highly decentralized architecture, capture photomultiplier waveforms with ~1 ns precision. From these signals, the tracks of high-energy muons can be determined, and, in turn, the incident direction of the transformed neutrino. Special attention had to be paid to several engineering issues, and especially to reliability for electronics operating in an inaccessible and very cold environment. Measured performance generally meets requirements. A new array, called “Deep Core” has been recently approved and funded, and will augment the detection capabilities for the lowest energy muon tracks, where a WIMP annihilation signal may exist.