Collaborative Research: WoU-MMA: The Radar Echo Telescope for Cosmic Rays and Neutrinos: Toward a Transformative Technology for Neutrino Detection

该项目将开发宇宙射线和中微子雷达回波望远镜的原型，准备安装在南极洲的泰勒穹。 雷达回波检测是从物体反射无线电波的过程，以测量其属性，包括位置，方向和空间范围。 高能粒子在像冰这样的致密物质中相互作用，产生带电粒子的级联和密集的电离云，这些电离云反射入射无线电波，允许远程检测高能粒子，如中微子。 这种雷达回波已经在试验波束测量中观察到。 这项工作将建立这种变革性的中微子探测器技术的技术方面，能量为10 peta-electron-volts（PeV）及以上。 在年轻时扩大科学思想和活动的机会是扩大一般科学素养和培养来自各种背景的未来科学家的关键一步。 美国国家科学基金会支持的俄亥俄州州立大学的ASPIRE项目将扩展到流星的雷达探测。 学生们将设计、建造和使用天线来探测微弱的无线电信号，激发好奇心和创造力。计划中的第一个装置将是宇宙射线雷达回波望远镜（RET）（RET-CR），它将探测超高能宇宙射线（UHECR）的级联，并为未来的中微子RET（RET-N）开发技术。 UHECR得到了很好的研究，是一种理想的原位“试验梁”。 光学切伦科夫探测器IceCube已经探测到了1 PeV以上的中微子，它的升级将使其扩展到~10 PeV。 RET的目标是能量在10-100 PeV范围内的中微子，对此没有更高灵敏度的现有技术。 探测统计上显著的10-100 PeV中微子群对于探测UHECR的来源和测量质心能量100 TeV的中微子-核子相互作用至关重要，这两个问题都是开放的实验问题。 该项目推进了NSF宇宙大创意窗口的目标。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project will develop the prototype of the Radar Echo Telescope for Cosmic Rays and Neutrinos ready for installation at Taylor Dome in Antarctica. Radar echo detection is the process by which radio waves are reflected from an object in order to measure its properties, including position, direction, and spatial extent. High-energy particles interacting in a dense material like ice produce cascades of charged particles and a dense cloud of ionization, which reflects incident radio waves, allowing for remote detection of high-energy particles such as neutrinos. Such radar echoes have already been observed in a test-beam measurement. This work will establish the technical aspects of this transformative detector technology for neutrinos with energies of 10 peta-electron-volts (PeV) and beyond. Expanding access to scientific thought and activities at a young age is a key step towards expanding general scientific literacy and training future scientists from all backgrounds. The NSF-supported ASPIRE program at The Ohio State University for high school women will be extended to involve the radar detection of meteors. Students will design, construct, and use an antenna to detect a faint radio signal, inspiring curiosity and creativity.The first installation to be planned will be the Radar Echo Telescope (RET) for Cosmic Rays (RET-CR,) which will detect cascades from ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECR) and develop the techniques for the future RET for neutrinos, RET-N. UHECR are well studied and make an ideal, in-situ ‘test beam’. The optical Cherenkov detector IceCube has detected neutrinos above 1PeV, and its upgrade will extend this to ~10 PeV. The RET targets neutrinos with energies in the 10-100 PeV range, for which there is no existing technology with greater sensitivity. Detecting a statistically significant population of 10-100 PeV neutrinos is crucial to probe the sources of UHECR and to measure neutrino-nucleon interactions at center-of-mass energies 100 TeV, both open experimental questions. This project advances the goals of the NSF Windows on the Universe Big Idea.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.