IceCube

IceCube predecessor: AMANDA (Antarctic Muon And Neutrino Detector Array) Completed in year 2000 From 2005 on: Amanda will merge with its successor experiment IceCube (currently in construction)

New types of telescopes using high-energy neutrinos Search of colliding galaxies, exploding stars, gamma-ray bursts and dark matter New types of telescopes using high-energy neutrinos Neutrinos= ideal astronomical messangers: Are able to leave compact sources and travel unhindered from distant reaches and violent astrophysical phenomena p  e cosmic rays + neutrinos gamma-rays 0 + n

Travel in straight line (≠protons) Transparent Universe (≠γ) UHE neutrinos are a new observation channel for studying astrophysical objects and the highest energy phenomena producing UHE cosmic rays

Using large quantities of ice as neutrino detector Cross section for neutrino interaction is very small. So, giant detectors are needed Using large quantities of ice as neutrino detector AMANDA / IceCube Main Goal: IceCube will search for extra-terrestrial neutrinos in the high-energy range (1011eV-1019eV) , from sources such as active galaxies, or gamma-ray bursts (supernova explosions, gamma-ray bursts, black holes or other extra-galactic events) One hopes to find some information about the physical processes associated with those high energies. As well as to reveal (parts of) the nature of Dark Matter.

Advantage of ice (over water): Clean, transparent material Lack of radioactivity Absence of biological activity Low temperatures reduce dark noise rates Stable ground

Detection Method: Neutrino collides with atom of ice => produces muon In ultra-transparent ice, muon radiates Cherenkov light and Cherenkov photons are detected by array of photomultiplier tubes Tracks are reconstructed of photon arrival times Geometry: relative OM position known within 0.5 m, absolute depth to within 1m + N + X n m m Optical module 15m

Neutrinos are measured from below (neutrino separation: upward going tracks)

The IceCube Collaboration (formerly known as AMANDA) Alabama University, USA Bartol Research Institute, Delaware, USA Pennsylvania State University, USA UC Berkeley, USA UC Irvine, USA Clark-Atlanta University, USA University of Alaska, Anchorage, USA Univ. of Maryland, USA IAS, Princeton, USA University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA University of Wisconsin-River Falls, USA LBNL, Berkeley, USA University of Kansas, USA Southern University and A&M College, Baton Rouge, USA The IceCube Collaboration (formerly known as AMANDA) USA (14) Japan Europe (15) Chiba University, Japan University of Canterbury, Christchurch, NZ New Zealand Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium Université de Mons-Hainaut, Belgium Universiteit Gent, Belgium Humboldt Universität, Germany Universität Mainz, Germany DESY Zeuthen, Germany Universität Dortmund, Germany Universität Wuppertal, Germany MPI Heidelberg, Germany Uppsala University, Sweden Stockholm University, Sweden Imperial College, London, UK Oxford University, UK Utrecht University, Netherlands ANTARCTICA

The IceCube array in the deep ice The IceCube array in the deep ice. The dark cylinder is the AMANDA detector, incorporated into IceCube.

IceTop (= Surface component of IceCube): 80 IceTop stations at the surface with 2 tanks per station. Air shower array to study cosmic ray composition. Further, coincident events between IceTop and the in-Ice detector provide useful cross-checks of the detector performance Inside an IceTop tank

AMANDA IceCube ~677 photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) arranged on 19 strings Placed between 1500m and 2000m Detector area 500m x 200m 4800 photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) on 80 strings (60 on each string) Placed at depths between 1450m-2450m 1km3 of ice as detector

How it works:

Drilling: Using a hot water drill (drill holes are more than 2 Drilling: Using a hot water drill (drill holes are more than 2.5 km deep) Photomultiplier tubes record (PMT) Cherenkov radiation Each photomultiplier is enclosed in a transparent pressure sphere, a digital optical module (DOM) which also contains a digitally controlled high voltage supply to power the photomultiplier, an analog transient waveform digitizer and LED flashers Signals digitized in the DOM are communicated to the IceCubeLab at the surface for data acquisition and data analysis Data is transmitted via satellite from the South Pole to data storage facilities for more data analysis effort

Drilling and deployment: 1st step: Drill though the firn layer (compacted snow, 50m) down to the actual ice. Circulate and re-circulate hot water through the firn drill 2nd step: Drilling by using hot water. Pumping hot water down the ice hole made by firn drill, results in melting the ice. Cooler water flowes back up, is reheated and reused Drill water comprises a total of 15 buildings that host hot water heaters, generators, pumps and storage tanks in temporary camps Strings of modules are deployed into holes Takes ~18 h to deploy a string

Schematic view of IceCube DOM Digital optical Module= fundamental detector element Consists of Photomultiplier Tube (PMT) and a suite of electronics board assemblies contained within 35cm diameter glass pressure housing Are downward facing Is able to digitize and time-stamp the photonic signal internally and transmit packetized digital data to the surface First demonstrated in AMANDA: each DOM allowes to operate as a complete and autonomous data acquisition system Derives its internal power (incl. PMT hight voltage) by the cable Within a DOM, data acquisition is initiated when the PMT signal exceeds a programmable threshold Will operate for at least 15 years Schematic view of IceCube DOM

IceCube array shown in relation to the drill camp and the bedrock beneath IceCube DOM array and a Cerenkov cone of blue light passing throug

Event illustration in the array The path of the light is reconstructed using the times of detection. The earliest hits are displayed in red and subsequent ones in orange, yellow, green . . . .

Animated IceCube Event: http://gallery.icecube.wisc.edu/external/animations/icecube_snabb.swf.html

AMANDA effectiv area (30,000-50,000m2) Detected muons from the Northern Hemisphere that penetrated the Earth and exit through Antarctica: AMANDA-II has nearly uniform response over all zenith angles. => Sensitivity independent of direction

Search for point sources of neutrinos 2000-03 data sample collected by the AMANDA-II detector (live-time 807 days) Search for point sources of high energy neutrinos No obvious clustering. No evidence of a significant flux excess above the background Sky plot: Neutrino flux integrated above 10GeV in equitorial coordinates 3329 neutrinos from northern hemisphere 3438 neutrinos expected from atmosphere

Steady Point Source Search Search for excess events from the direction of known gamma-ray emitters => No statistically significant excess found from 33 objects

Future: January 2008 Construction Status : 40 Strings and 80 Tanks deployed. Set of measurements performed to confirm the design of the detector and check its performance March 2010: Full Operational Capability. September 2010: Complete IceCube Construction Project. January 2011: 70 Strings and 160 Tanks deployed. Detector will be operated 20 years.

Summary: AMANDA has searched the sky for high energy neutrinos So far no source or no diffuse flux of high energy extraterrestrial neutrinos has been identified More analysis under way IceCubes first string with 60 OMs was deployed in January 2005 All OMs communicate and deliver data as expected Hope that km- scale experiment (IceCube) will be able to increase the detection sensitivity

Wisconsin Research Journal: Video