Astronomy:ARIANNA Experiment

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Short description: Proposed detector for ultra-high energy astrophysical neutrinos

Antarctic Ross Ice-Shelf Antenna Neutrino Array (ARIANNA) is a proposed detector for ultra-high energy astrophysical neutrinos. It will detect coherent radio Cherenkov emissions from the particle showers produced by neutrinos with energies above about 10^17 eV. ARIANNA will be built on the Ross Ice Shelf just off the coast of Antarctica, where it will eventually cover about 900 km^2 in surface area. There, the ice-water interface below the shelf reflects radio waves, giving ARIANNA sensitivity to downward going neutrinos and improving its sensitivity to horizontally incident neutrinos. ARIANNA detector stations will each contain 4-8 antennas which search for brief pulses of 50 MHz to 1 GHz radio emission from neutrino interactions.[1]

As of 2016, a prototype array consisting of 7 stations had been deployed, and was taking data. An initial search for neutrinos was made; none were found, and an upper limit was generated.[2]

References

  1. Gerhardt, Lisa; Klein, Spencer R; Stezelberger, Thorsten; Barwick, Steve; Dookayka, Kamlesh; Hanson, Jordan; Nichol, Ryan (2010). "A prototype station for ARIANNA: A detector for cosmic neutrinos". Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment 624: 85–91. doi:10.1016/j.nima.2010.09.032. Bibcode2010NIMPA.624...85G. 
  2. Gerhardt, Lisa; Klein, Spencer R; Stezelberger, Thorsten; Barwick, Steve; Dookayka, Kamlesh; Hanson, Jordan; Nichol, Ryan (2015). "A First Search for Cosmogenic Neutrinos with the ARIANNA Hexagonal Radio Array". Astroparticle Physics 70 (2015): 12–26. doi:10.1016/j.astropartphys.2015.04.002. Bibcode2015APh....70...12B. 

External links