Optimized Trigger for Ultra-High-Energy Cosmic-Ray and Neutrino Observations with the Low Frequency Radio Array

TL;DR

This paper proposes an optimized trigger system for LOFAR to detect short radio pulses emitted by ultra-high-energy cosmic rays and neutrinos impacting the lunar surface, enhancing detection efficiency.

Contribution

It introduces a novel trigger implementation tailored for LOFAR to improve detection of transient lunar radio signals from cosmic events.

Findings

Enhanced detection sensitivity for lunar radio pulses

Efficient real-time trigger implementation

Potential for improved ultra-high-energy particle observations

Abstract

When an ultra-high energy neutrino or cosmic ray strikes the Lunar surface a radio-frequency pulse is emitted. We plan to use the LOFAR radio telescope to detect these pulses. In this work we propose an efficient trigger implementation for LOFAR optimized for the observation of short radio pulses.