Toward Radio Detection of PeV Neutrinos on the Cubic Kilometer Scale

TL;DR

This paper discusses the development of a radio detection method for ultrahigh energy neutrinos in Antarctic ice, highlighting its potential for a large-scale neutrino telescope and its advantages over traditional phototube detection.

Contribution

It introduces a radio detection approach for PeV neutrinos in ice and presents initial deployment results, advancing the design of a km^3-scale neutrino observatory.

Findings

Successful deployment of radio receivers at South Pole

Radio detection distinguishes itself from phototube methods

Potential for large-scale neutrino detection in Antarctic ice

Abstract

Interactions of ultrahigh energy neutrinos of cosmological origin in large volumes of radio-transparent South Polar ice can be detected via coherent Cherenkov emission from accompanying electromagnetic showers. A pilot experiment employing buried radio receivers has been successfully deployed at the South Pole and data are now being collected. The physics of coherent radio emission together with the properties of radio-pulse propagation in Antarctic ice clearly distinguishes the radio method from phototube detection. In the context of the proposed km^3-scale neutrino telescope, these two detection modes provide complementary information on UHE neutrino interactions.