Cosmic-ray Physics with IceCube

使用 IceCube 进行宇宙射线物理

• 批准号: 1205809
• 负责人: Thomas Gaisser
• 金额: $ 138万
• 依托单位: University of Delaware
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-09-01 至 2015-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1205809&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Cosmic; ray; Physics; IceCube

IceCube is a neutrino observatory at the South Pole. It consists of more than 5000 digital optical modules between 1.45 and 2.45 km deep in the dark, clear ice of the Antarctic glacier. Each module includes a 10 inch photomultiplier, an onboard computer, and associated electronics, all contained inside a glass pressure sphere and connected by wires to the central data acquisition system. IceTop is the surface component of IceCube, with a pair of ice-filled tanks near the top of each down-hole cable. Each tank is instrumented with two modules integrated into the overall IceCube data acquisition system. As charged particles pass through the ice, whether deep in IceCube or in the surface tanks they generate flashes of light that are digitally recorded. This award will provide support for the University of Delaware group to study the high-energy cosmic-ray events detected by IceCube. The novel feature of IceCube as a cosmic-ray detector is its ability to study events seen in coincidence by both IceTop and the deep detectors of IceCube. The ratio of signal in deep detectors to signal on the surface is sensitive to the relative concentration of different groups of nuclei in the primary cosmic radiation in a high energy range not accessible to direct measurements. A particular emphasis of this work is to search for a transition from galactic cosmic rays to a higher energy population of particles from extra-galactic sources. The two populations would be differentiated by their composition and energy spectra. The results will contribute to understanding the sources and acceleration mechanisms of high energy particles in Nature.Broader Impact: Undergraduate physics students are involved in the calibration procedure and in creating processing, triggering and reconstruction algorithms. They make significant contributions to the project as they learn the related elementary particle physics and electronics. During the construction phase of IceCube, a web site was created at the University of Delaware that provided an interface with local schools. The site will be updated to focus on science, particularly the near real time stream of data from the surface detectors along with an explanation of how these data trace solar activity and space weather.

冰立方是南极的一个中微子观测站。它由5000多个数字光学模块组成，深度在1.45至2.45公里之间，位于南极冰川黑暗、透明的冰层中。每个模块包括一个10英寸的光电倍增管、一台机载计算机和相关的电子设备，所有这些都包含在一个玻璃压力球内，并通过电线连接到中央数据采集系统。IceTop是IceCube的表面组件，每根井下电缆的顶部附近都有一对充满冰的水箱。每个水箱都配备了两个集成到整个冰立方数据采集系统中的模块。当带电粒子穿过冰层时，无论是在冰立方深处还是在表层水箱中，它们都会产生闪光，并被数字记录下来。该奖项将为特拉华大学研究冰立方探测到的高能宇宙射线事件提供支持。冰立方作为宇宙射线探测器的新特点是它能够研究冰顶和冰立方深部探测器同时看到的事件。在无法直接测量的高能范围内，深部探测器中的信号与表面上的信号之比对初级宇宙辐射中不同组核的相对浓度很敏感。这项工作的一个特别重点是寻找从银河系宇宙射线到来自银河系外来源的更高能量粒子群的过渡。这两个群体将通过它们的组成和能谱来区分。这些结果将有助于理解自然界中高能粒子的来源和加速机制。广泛的影响：本科生参与了校准过程，并创建了处理、触发和重建算法。他们学习了相关的基本粒子物理学和电子学，为该项目做出了重大贡献。在IceCube的建设阶段，特拉华大学创建了一个网站，提供与当地学校的接口。该网站将进行更新，重点放在科学上，特别是来自表面探测器的近实时数据流，并解释这些数据如何跟踪太阳活动和空间天气。