Acoustic detection of neutrinos in bedrock

TL;DR

This paper explores using bedrock as a medium for acoustic detection of ultra-high energy neutrinos, leveraging its higher density and sound speed to improve detection sensitivity and range.

Contribution

It introduces the novel idea of using bedrock for neutrino detection and presents preliminary simulations supporting its advantages over water-based methods.

Findings

Simulations show larger pressure pulses in rock due to higher density and sound speed.

Higher density increases neutrino interaction rates.

Longer attenuation length in rock reduces signal loss.

Abstract

We propose to utilize bedrock as a medium for acoustic detection of particle showers following interactions of ultra-high energy neutrinos. With the density of rock three-times larger and the speed of sound four-times larger compared to water, the amplitude of the generated bipolar pressure pulse in rock should be larger by an order of magnitude. Our preliminary simulations confirm that prediction. Higher density of rock also guarantees higher interaction rate for neutrinos. A noticeably longer attenuation length in rock reduces signal dissipation. The Pyh\"asalmi mine has a unique infrastructure and rock conditions to test this idea and, if successful, extend it to a full-size experiment.