Recent Results from IceCube and AMANDA

TL;DR

IceCube, a large neutrino telescope at the South Pole, has already surpassed AMANDA in sensitivity, with recent results on astrophysical neutrinos and dark matter, and plans for an extension to detect lower-energy neutrinos.

Contribution

This paper reports on the progress and initial results of IceCube, highlighting its improved sensitivity over AMANDA and outlining future enhancements like Deep Core.

Findings

IceCube's sensitivity exceeds that of AMANDA-II.

Initial results include searches for astrophysical neutrinos.

Plans for Deep Core aim to detect lower-energy neutrinos.

Abstract

IceCube is a cubic kilometer neutrino telescope under construction at the South Pole, a successor to the first-generation AMANDA telescope. IceCube is now three quarters complete, with completion expected in early 2011, and data taken with the partially built detector already provides a sensitivity surpassing the complete AMANDA-II data set. Results from searches for astrophysical sources of neutrinos and for evidence of dark matter with both AMANDA and IceCube are summarized. We also discuss plans for Deep Core, an enhancement of IceCube designed to extend its sensitivity to neutrinos below the TeV scale.