RICE - Radio Ice Cerenkov Experiment

批准对IceCube项目进行冰洞钻探(将于2004-2005年开始)提供了一个独一无二的(不能重复的)科学机会。建造中微子探测器的最大学术价值在于一项在新能源制度下运行的新技术尚未发现的谜团。莱斯(无线电冰切伦科夫实验)的主要目标类似于更大的阿曼达实验-两者都寻求通过检测切伦科夫辐射产生的高能中微子与物质相互作用。阿曼达被优化用于探测穿透性TeV介子，而莱斯被设计用于探测由产生宽带切伦科夫辐射的更高能量(PeV尺度)电子引发的紧凑的电磁级联。幸运的是，在这样的射电波长下，场衰减长度超过1公里。对于1PeV，级联的无线电探测比基于光学的技术更有效；在如此高的能量下，来自所有其他来源的背景总和预计将比信号小10%-100%。这项提议是在冰立方洞中共同部署莱斯无线电接收器，从而以最低的成本将对中微子的敏感度提高至少两个数量级。在冰立方合作的支持下，该项目将为符合(莱斯冰立方)电磁级联探测的无线电阵列提供仪器。FAST硬件(将于2003-2004年安装)将能够以微秒的时间尺度消除过去主导触发因素的地表人为背景。过去四年的大米数据使得迄今能够对现场无线电探测系统进行最详细的研究，如最近关于预期射频脉冲的电动力学的两份出版物以及关于大米模拟和校准以及中微子通量限制的两份出版物所述。通过在每个洞部署三个无线电接收器，除了天体物理学之外，还将有可能进行世界级的就地无线电冰川学测量。首次现场测量极地冰介电常数的结果目前正在准备提交期刊。最大限度的节约要求大部分的工作量落在学生身上。目前，赖斯的作者中有一半是本科生；三名赖斯本科生获得了著名的金水奖学金，五名赖斯本科生自1999-2000年首次部署以来曾前往南极。鉴于莱斯实验对“非专业”群体的广泛影响，著名的教学和讲课机会已扩展到莱斯的教职员工，为招聘和宣传提供了更多机会。

The approval of ice-hole drilling for the IceCube project (to begin in 2004-2005) presents a singe (and not-to-be-repeated) scientific opportunity. The greatest intellectual merit of constructing a neutrino detector lies in the mysteries yet-to-be-discovered with a new technology operating in a new energy regime. RICE (Radio Ice Cherenkov Experiment) has primary goals similar to the larger AMANDA experiment - both seek to measure high-energy neutrinos by detection of Cherenkov radiation produced their interaction with the matter. Whereas AMANDA is optimized for detection of penetrating TeV muons, RICE is designed to detect compact electromagnetic cascades initiated by higher energy (PeV-scale) electrons, which produce broadband Cherenkov radiation. Fortuitously, the field attenuation length at such radio wavelengths exceeds 1 km. For 1 PeV, radio detection of cascades becomes more efficient than optical-based techniques; at such high energies, the sum of backgrounds from all other sources are expected to be smaller than signals by 10-100. This proposal is to co-deploy RICE radio receivers in the IceCube holes, thereby scaling up the sensitivity to neutrinos by at least two orders of magnitude, at minimal cost. Encouraged by support from the IceCube collaboration, the project will instrument the radio array for coincident (RICE + IceCube) electromagnetic cascade detection. Fast hardware (to be installed in 2003-2004) will allow microsecond time-scale elimination of the surface anthropogenic background, which has dominated triggers in the past. RICE data from the last four years have allowed the most detailed study of in situ radio detection systematics thus far, as presented in two recent publications on the electrodynamics of the expected radio frequency pulse, and two publications on RICE simulation and calibration and limits on the neutrino flux. By deploying three radio receivers per hole, it will also be possible to conduct world-class, in situ radio-glaciology measurements, in addition to astrophysics. The results on the first in situ measurements of the polar ice dielectric constant are currently being prepared for journal submission. Maximizing economy has required that much of the workload falls on students. Currently, half of the current RICE authors are undergrads; three RICE undergrads have been recipients of prestigious Goldwater Scholarships, five RICE undergrads have traveled to the South Pole since the first deployments in 1999-2000. In recognition of the broader impact of the RICE experiment on the "non-professional" community, prestigious teaching and lecturing opportunities have been extended to RICE faculty, offering more opportunities for recruiting and publicity.