RICE - Radio Ice Cerenkov Experiment

摘要9617412贝松电磁辐射(光、X射线、伽马射线等)最高能量的伽马射线无法从宇宙最活跃的区域内逃逸，例如从星系核逃逸，也无法通过星际空间传播，因为它们将被宇宙背景的红外光子吸收。然而，中微子可以畅通无阻地穿越相当数量的物质，如果能够以一种能够确定其到达方向和能量的方式被探测到，它们可以被用来研究宇宙的高密度区域和最高能量事件。当电子型中微子确实与介电介质(如南极下的深层冰川)相互作用时，它将产生电子和正电子簇射，这些电子和正电子将以电磁辐射的形式迅速辐射出原始中微子的能量。这种相互作用的概率随着能量的增加而增加，因此探测器的灵敏度随着能量的增加而增加。因此，一个中等大小(按照中微子探测器标准)的仪器体积的冰，比如一个100米的立方体，其有效体积可能是1立方公里，这个大小被认为是进行天文学所必需的。这是一项试验项目，旨在确定用无线电探测冰中中微子相互作用的可行性。***

Abstract 9617412 Besson Electromagnetic radiation (light, x-rays, gamma rays, etc.) cannot escape from inside the most active regions of the universe, for instance from the nuclei of galaxies, nor can the highest energy gamma rays even propagate through intergalactic space because they will be absorbed by the cosmic background infrared photons. Neutrinos, however, can traverse a considerable amount of material unimpeded, and if they can be detected in such a way that their arrival direction and energy can be determined, they can be used to study high density regions and highest energy events of the cosmos. When an electron type neutrino does interact in a dielectric medium (such as the deep glacial ice beneath South Pole) it will produce a shower of electron and positrons which will rapidly radiate away the energy of the original neutrino as electromagnetic radiation. The probability of such interactions increases with increasing energy, so that a detector's sensitivity increases with energy. Thus, a modest (by neutrino detector standards) sized instrumented volume of ice, say a 100 meter cube, could have an effective volume of a cubic kilometer, a size which is deemed necessary to do astronomy. This is a pilot project to determine the feasibility of the radio detection of neutrino interactions in ice. ***