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

该项目将开发用于宇宙射线和中微子的雷达回波望远镜的原型，准备安装在南极洲的泰勒圆顶。雷达回波探测是利用物体反射的无线电波来测量物体的特性，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，产生带电粒子级联和密集的电离云，电离云反射入射的无线电波，从而允许远程探测像中微子这样的高能粒子。这种雷达回波已经在测试波束测量中被观察到。这项工作将建立这种能量为10千兆电子伏特（PeV）及以上的中微子的变革性探测器技术的技术方面。扩大在年轻时接触科学思想和科学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。由美国国家科学基金会支持的俄亥俄州立大学面向高中女生的ASPIRE项目将扩展到流星雷达探测。学生将设计、建造并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，并为未来的中微子雷达回波望远镜（RET- n）开发技术。UHECR是一种理想的原位“测试梁”。光学切伦科夫探测器冰立方已经探测到1PeV以上的中微子，它的升级将把它扩展到~ 10pev。RET的目标是能量在10-100 PeV范围内的中微子，目前还没有比它更敏感的技术。探测具有统计学意义的10-100 PeV中微子群对于探测UHECR的来源和测量质心能量为100 TeV的中微子-核子相互作用至关重要，这两个都是开放的实验问题。这个项目推进了NSF宇宙大构想窗口的目标。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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.