CAREER: WoU-MMA: Understanding the Neutrino Sky

宇宙射线是从遥远来源到达地球的粒子，其能量可能超过最高能量人造粒子加速器的1000万倍。然而，在它们被发现一个世纪后，这些非凡粒子的起源以及赋予它们这些能量的过程仍然未知。在过去的十年里，南极的冰立方中微子天文台首次瞥见了这些来源，揭示了其中一些来源的大致位置，但没有准确地确定它们是什么。该奖项支持分析现有IceCube数据的新方法，以解开这个谜团，并支持在华盛顿海岸附近的太平洋底部开发下一代天文台P-One的第一步，该天文台将提供更高精度的测量，完全打开IceCube提供的新的宇宙窗口--以及为研究深海提供一个独特的平台。作为这一努力的一部分，该奖项还将支持改善物理教学的工作，以提高可及性，强调这门学科是一门实验科学，而不仅仅是一项数学练习，并将课程与学术和工业职业所需的技能更好地结合起来。中微子能够穿过对光不透明的障碍，提供了高能和遥远宇宙的独特视角。在过去八年中，冰立方中微子观测站首次发现了这些来自天体物理物体的高能中微子，首次探测到明亮的弥漫背景(2014年)和第一个源(2018年)。这些结果令人费解：除了宇宙微波背景之外，中微子的天空在任何波长上都比光更各向同性，而第一个(也可能是最亮的)源既距离地球很远，在其他方面也不引人注目。总而言之，这些观测结果强烈地表明，中微子正在告诉我们关于宇宙的一些根本上的新东西，一些我们没有预料到的东西，也没有其他方法可以看到，但我们确实有数据来理解它可能是什么。该奖项通过两条途径解决这一问题：分析现有冰立方数据的新方法，特别是通过与活动星系的毫米波波段观测(已有迹象表明)进行互相关，以及为东北太平洋新的中微子望远镜P-One开发电子设备。P-One预计将达到比IceCube高4-5倍的角分辨率，使预计探测到的源数量增加一个数量级，并允许首次对中微子源进行总体研究。此外，P-One的峰值灵敏度将在南部天空，这与IceCube不同，这使得它与对我们星系的研究和大多数下一代电磁天文台(Rubin、ELT、CMB-S4、SKA、SWGO等)的视野非常匹配。该奖项预期的教育和推广方面包括在密歇根州的学校进行推广，在本科生到毕业生的过渡阶段增加多样性的两个项目，以及在研究生和本科生水平上教授实验物理的新项目。此外，该奖项还支持在印象五号科学中心设立一个关于宇宙射线和粒子物理的新展览，密歇根州中部的一个主要的科学教育中心，每年吸引近20万游客。该奖项与NSF关于宇宙之窗的大想法一致：多信使天体物理学时代，因为它协调了利用来自IceCube的高能中微子的长波(mm/cm)光子的多信使观测，并将改善数据的解释，特别是通过提高对漫射源的理解。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Cosmic rays, particles arriving at the Earth from distant sources, can have energies exceeding 10 million times that of the highest-energy man-made particle accelerators. A century after their discovery, however, the origin of these remarkable particles, and the process responsible for giving them these energies remains unknown. A first glimpse at these sources has come over the last decade from the Antarctic's IceCube Neutrino Observatory, revealing the approximate locations of a number of them, but without the precision to identify what they are. This award supports new approaches to analyze existing IceCube data to untangle this mystery as well as the first steps to develop a next-generation observatory, P-ONE, at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean off the Washington coast that will provide much higher-precision measurements and fully open the new window on the universe provided by IceCube -- as well as providing a unique platform for studying the deep ocean. As part of this effort, the award will also support work to improve teaching in physics to improve accessibility and emphasize the subject as an experimental science rather than as only a mathematical exercise and to better align coursework with the skills needed for both academic and industry careers.Neutrinos, able to pass through obstacles opaque to light, provide a unique view of the high-energy and distant universe. Over the last eight years, the IceCube Neutrino Observatory has provided the first glimpse of these high-energy neutrinos from astrophysical objects, with the first detection of a bright, diffuse background (2014) and of the first source (2018). These results present something of a puzzle: The neutrino sky is more isotropic than light at any wavelength except the cosmic microwave background and the first (and presumably brightest) source is both a vast distance from Earth and otherwise unremarkable. Together, these observations strongly suggest that neutrinos are telling us something fundamentally new about the universe, something that we have not anticipated and have no other way to see, but we do yet have the data to understand what it might be. This award approaches this problem on two paths: new methods for analysis of existing IceCube data, notably by cross-correlation with millimeter-band observations of active galaxies, of which hints have been reported, and by development of the electronics for a new neutrino telescope in the northeast Pacific, P-ONE. P-ONE is expected to achieve angular resolution 4-5 times better than IceCube, increasing the expected number of detected sources by an order of magnitude and allowing the first population studies of neutrino sources. Moreover, P-ONE's peak sensitivity will be in the southern sky, unlike IceCube, which makes it well-matched to studies of our galaxy and the fields of view of most next-generation electromagnetic observatories (Rubin, ELT, CMB-S4, SKA, SWGO, etc.). Anticipated education and outreach aspects of the award include outreach in Michigan schools, a pair of programs to increase diversity at the undergraduate to graduate transition, and new programs for teaching experimental physics at the graduate and undergraduate level. In addition, the award supports the installation of a new exhibit on cosmic rays and particle physics at the Impression Five science center, a major center for science education in mid-Michigan attracting nearly 200,000 visitors a year.The award is aligned with the NSF Big Idea of Windows on the Universe: the Era of Multi-messenger Astrophysics as it coordinates the use of multi-messengers observations utilizing long wavelength (mm/cm) photons with high energy neutrinos from IceCube and will improve the interpretation of data especially through improving the understanding of diffuse sources.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.