Development Toward a Ground-Based Interferometric Phased Array for Radio Detection of High Energy Neutrinos

TL;DR

This paper explores the development of a ground-based interferometric phased array for radio detection of high energy neutrinos, focusing on noise analysis, beamforming, and site considerations to improve detection sensitivity.

Contribution

It presents measurements and simulations of thermal noise correlations, beamforming techniques, and site environment analysis for a phased array neutrino detector.

Findings

Thermal noise correlations between antennas characterized.

Beamforming improves trigger efficiency for impulsive signals.

Summit Station environment suitable for phased array deployment.

Abstract

The in-ice radio interferometric phased array technique for detection of high energy neutrinos looks for Askaryan emission from neutrinos interacting in large volumes of glacial ice, and is being developed as a way to achieve a low energy threshold and a large effective volume at high energies. The technique is based on coherently summing the impulsive Askaryan signal from multiple antennas, which increases the signal-to-noise ratio for weak signals. We report here on measurements and a simulation of thermal noise correlations between nearby antennas, beamforming of impulsive signals, and a measurement of the expected improvement in trigger efficiency through the phased array technique. We also discuss the noise environment observed with an analog phased array at Summit Station, Greenland, a possible site for an interferometric phased array for radio detection of high energy neutrinos.