Proposal to Participate in Data Analysis for the IceCube Project

关于参与IceCube项目数据分析的提案

• 批准号: 0602726
• 负责人: Steven Barwick
• 金额: $ 75万
• 依托单位: University of California-Irvine
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2006
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2006-06-01 至 2010-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0602726&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Proposal; Participate; Data; Analysis; IceCube

The high-energy frontier has traditionally led to dramatic breakthroughs in our understanding of nature. However, the usual tools of astronomy have difficulties gathering the requisite information at the highest energies. The universe is opaque to light with energy above 1015 eV if originating from outside of our galactic neighborhood, and charged cosmic rays do not carry directional information because of their deflection by galactic magnetic fields. The AMANDA detector, completed in 2000, was the first to search for astrophysical neutrinos from sources in the northern sky. After 5 successful years of operation, it has now been incorporated into the IceCube, a new detector based on the AMANDA concept which is under construction at the South Pole. AMANDA was designed to explore the highest energy bands of astronomy based on the detection of the neutrino, a particle with properties that complement those of the photon and charged cosmic rays. At energies that overlap with mature fields of observational astronomy, multi-messenger astrophysics is possible. IceCube continues this quest but with several important improvements. Its energy resolution is expected to be good enough to confidently select neutrino events with energy between 1012-1015 eV. If the astrophysical neutrino signal is sufficiently strong to provide tens of events or more, IceCube will measure the energy spectrum, which is an important diagnostic when interpreting the data. As a precursor to detailed analysis of data from IceCube strings, we intend to develop a new technique to better estimate the energy of the neutrino using powerful, new capabilities of the recently-installed AMANDA Transient Waveform Recorders (TWR) data acquisition system. TWR provides a complete digital record of the output from every AMANDA sensor embedded in the ice. This beautifully complements the readout scheme of IceCube, which also plans to acquire digital records of detector signals, but with better fidelity. Multi-messenger astronomy may be the most powerful method to decipher the physics of particle acceleration in Active Galaxies or GRBs (Gamma Ray Bursts), which have been identified as possible sources of the highest energy cosmic rays. As a particle physics experiment detecting neutrinos with energies far beyond those produced at terrestrial accelerators, IceCube has the potential to uncover new physics based on high energy collisions between neutrinos and ordinary matter. If GRBs emit a detectable flux of neutrinos, then the physics opportunities become even more exciting. For example, the weak equivalence principle can be tested by the contemporaneous measurement of the photon and neutrino arrival times. Because of the fundamental similarity in the data records between IceCube and AMANDA, we propose to develop and verify the accuracy of a new energy estimator that utilizes the additional information provided by TWR data and adapt it to include IceCube strings as they are installed. We plan to use the energy information to provide more powerful tools to search for sources of high energy neutrinos and with luck, reveal the long-sought source of cosmic rays.

高能前沿传统上导致了我们对自然的理解的巨大突破。 然而，通常的天文学工具在最高能量下收集必要的信息有困难。如果来自我们银河系附近的外部，宇宙对能量超过1015 eV的光是不透明的，并且带电的宇宙射线不携带方向信息，因为它们被银河系磁场偏转。2000年完成的AMANDA探测器是第一个从北方天空中寻找天体物理中微子的探测器。 经过5年的成功运行，它现在已经被纳入冰立方，这是一个基于AMANDA概念的新探测器，正在南极建造。 AMANDA的设计是为了探索天文学的最高能带，其基础是对中微子的探测，中微子是一种具有光子和带电宇宙射线特性的粒子。 在与观测天文学的成熟领域重叠的能量中，多信使天体物理学是可能的。 IceCube继续这一探索，但有几个重要的改进。 它的能量分辨率预计将足以自信地选择能量在1012 - 1015 eV之间的中微子事件。如果天体物理学中微子信号足够强，可以提供数十个或更多的事件，IceCube将测量能谱，这是解释数据时的重要诊断。 作为对IceCube弦数据进行详细分析的先驱，我们打算开发一种新技术，使用最近安装的AMANDA瞬态波形记录器（TWR）数据采集系统的强大新功能来更好地估计中微子的能量。TWR提供了一个完整的数字记录的输出从每个AMANDA传感器嵌入在冰。 这完美地补充了IceCube的读出方案，IceCube也计划获取探测器信号的数字记录，但保真度更好。多信使天文学可能是破译活动星系或伽马射线暴（伽马射线暴）中粒子加速物理学的最有力方法，这些伽马射线暴已被确定为最高能量宇宙射线的可能来源。作为一个粒子物理实验，探测能量远远超过地球加速器产生的中微子，IceCube有可能揭示基于中微子和普通物质之间高能碰撞的新物理学。 如果伽马射线暴发射出可探测到的中微子流，那么物理学的机会变得更加令人兴奋。例如，弱等效原理可以通过同时测量光子和中微子的到达时间来检验。 由于IceCube和AMANDA之间的数据记录的基本相似性，我们建议开发和验证一个新的能量估计器的准确性，该估计器利用TWR数据提供的额外信息，并在安装时将其调整为包括IceCube字符串。 我们计划利用这些能量信息提供更强大的工具来寻找高能中微子的来源，如果幸运的话，我们将揭示长期寻找的宇宙射线来源。