RICE - Radio Ice Cerenkov Experiment

为冰立方项目（将于2004-2005年开始）钻探冰洞的批准提供了一个独一无二的（而且不会重复的）科学机会。建造中微子探测器的最大智力价值在于，在新能源体制下运行的新技术尚未发现的奥秘。RICE（无线电冰切伦科夫实验）的主要目标与更大的AMANDA实验相似——都是通过探测切伦科夫辐射产生的与物质的相互作用来测量高能中微子。AMANDA被优化用于探测穿透TeV μ子，而RICE被设计用于探测由高能（pev尺度）电子引发的紧凑电磁级联，这些电子产生宽带切伦科夫辐射。幸运的是，这种无线电波长的场衰减长度超过1公里。对于1 PeV，级联的无线电探测比基于光学的技术更有效；在如此高的能量下，来自所有其他来源的背景之和预计将比信号小10-100。这个提议是在冰立方的孔洞中共同部署RICE无线电接收器，从而以最小的成本将对中微子的灵敏度提高至少两个数量级。在IceCube合作项目的支持下，该项目将对无线电阵列进行重合（RICE + IceCube）电磁级联探测。快速硬件（将于2003-2004年安装）将允许在微秒时间尺度上消除地表人为背景，这在过去是主要的触发因素。过去四年的RICE数据使迄今为止对现场无线电探测系统进行了最详细的研究，如最近两份关于预期无线电频率脉冲电动力学的出版物和两份关于RICE模拟和校准以及中微子通量限制的出版物所述。通过在每个洞中部署三个无线电接收器，除了天体物理学之外，还可以进行世界级的现场无线电冰川学测量。极地冰介电常数第一次实地测量的结果目前正在准备提交期刊。经济最大化要求学生承担大部分的工作量。目前，一半的RICE作者是本科生；赖斯的三名本科生获得了著名的金华特奖学金，自1999-2000年第一次部署以来，赖斯的五名本科生前往南极。由于认识到RICE实验对“非专业”社区的广泛影响，享有声望的教学和演讲机会已扩展到RICE教师，为招聘和宣传提供了更多机会。

The approval of ice-hole drilling for the IceCube project (to begin in 2004-2005) presents a singe (and not-to-be-repeated) scientific opportunity. The greatest intellectual merit of constructing a neutrino detector lies in the mysteries yet-to-be-discovered with a new technology operating in a new energy regime. RICE (Radio Ice Cherenkov Experiment) has primary goals similar to the larger AMANDA experiment - both seek to measure high-energy neutrinos by detection of Cherenkov radiation produced their interaction with the matter. Whereas AMANDA is optimized for detection of penetrating TeV muons, RICE is designed to detect compact electromagnetic cascades initiated by higher energy (PeV-scale) electrons, which produce broadband Cherenkov radiation. Fortuitously, the field attenuation length at such radio wavelengths exceeds 1 km. For 1 PeV, radio detection of cascades becomes more efficient than optical-based techniques; at such high energies, the sum of backgrounds from all other sources are expected to be smaller than signals by 10-100. This proposal is to co-deploy RICE radio receivers in the IceCube holes, thereby scaling up the sensitivity to neutrinos by at least two orders of magnitude, at minimal cost. Encouraged by support from the IceCube collaboration, the project will instrument the radio array for coincident (RICE + IceCube) electromagnetic cascade detection. Fast hardware (to be installed in 2003-2004) will allow microsecond time-scale elimination of the surface anthropogenic background, which has dominated triggers in the past. RICE data from the last four years have allowed the most detailed study of in situ radio detection systematics thus far, as presented in two recent publications on the electrodynamics of the expected radio frequency pulse, and two publications on RICE simulation and calibration and limits on the neutrino flux. By deploying three radio receivers per hole, it will also be possible to conduct world-class, in situ radio-glaciology measurements, in addition to astrophysics. The results on the first in situ measurements of the polar ice dielectric constant are currently being prepared for journal submission. Maximizing economy has required that much of the workload falls on students. Currently, half of the current RICE authors are undergrads; three RICE undergrads have been recipients of prestigious Goldwater Scholarships, five RICE undergrads have traveled to the South Pole since the first deployments in 1999-2000. In recognition of the broader impact of the RICE experiment on the "non-professional" community, prestigious teaching and lecturing opportunities have been extended to RICE faculty, offering more opportunities for recruiting and publicity.