Cosmic-ray Physics with IceCube

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Embedded deep in the ice cap at the South Pole, the IceCube Neutrino Observatory (ICNO) is the world's largest and most sensitive high energy neutrino telescope. It is a 1 billion-ton detector using the Antarctic ice as a detection medium for high energy atmospheric and astrophysical neutrinos. Most of the neutrinos observed by IceCube exhibit energies in the range expected for atmospheric neutrinos originating from decays of particles produced in extensive air showers by cosmic rays coming from nearby sectors of the Milky Way Galaxy. These may be used to measure the fundamental properties of neutrinos. At higher energies, astrophysical neutrinos are key probes of the high-energy universe. Because of their unique properties, neutrinos escape even dense regions, are not deflected by galactic or extra-galactic magnetic fields and traverse the photon-filled universe unhindered. Thus, neutrinos provide direct information about the dynamics and interiors of the powerful cosmic objects that may be the origins of high energy cosmic rays: supernovae, black holes, pulsars, active galactic nuclei and other extreme extragalactic phenomena.The science of IceCube is broad and interdisciplinary. As a consequence, there are several opportunities for collaboration with other experiments. Of special interest at Delaware is the connection with solar and heliospheric physics. The counting rates in IceTop are highly sensitive to changes in solar activity as it affects the flux of cosmic rays arriving at Earth. The relevant data from IceTop sensors are posted online in near real time in the context of other, complementary measures of solar activity. Delaware participates in the IceCube Master Class program for high school students, and hosts local students for research experience.The primary goal of this award is to study the high-energy cosmic-ray events detected by IceCube including IceTop. 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 digital optical modules (DOMs) integrated into the overall IceCube data acquisition system. This award also contributes to the main mission of IceCube, which is to study high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin. A key aspect for astrophysical neutrinos is to understand the background due to neutrinos produced at Earth by interactions of cosmic rays in the atmosphere. The astrophysical neutrinos are produced by interactions of cosmic rays in distant, energetic astrophysical sources. Both in neutrino astronomy and in cosmic-ray physics, the goal is to understand the origin and acceleration mechanisms of high-energy particles in Nature.