Drilling deep in South Pole Ice

To detect the tiny flux of ultra-high energy neutrinos from active galactic nuclei or from interactions of highest energy cosmic rays with the microwave background photons needs target masses of the order of several hundred cubic kilometers. Clear Antarctic ice has been discussed as a favorable material for hybrid detection of optical, radio and acoustic signals from ultra-high energy neutrino interactions. To apply these technologies at the adequate scale hundreds of holes have to be drilled in the ice down to depths of about 2500 m to deploy the corresponding sensors. To do this on a reasonable time scale is impossible with presently available tools. Remote drilling and deployment schemes have to be developed to make such a detector design reality. After a short discussion of the status of modern hot water drilling we present here a design of an autonomous melting probe, tested 50 years ago to reach a depth of about 1000 m in Greenland ice. A scenario how to build such a probe today with modern technologies is sketched. A first application of such probes could be the deployment of calibration equipment at any required position in the ice, to study its optical, radio and acoustic transmission properties.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, contribution to the Workshop ARENA2014, June 9-12 2014, Annapoli

Alternative Detection Methods for Highest Energy Neutrinos

Several experimental techniques are currently under development, to measure the expected tiny fluxes of highest energy neutrinos above 10**18 eV. Projects in different stages of realisation are discussed here, which are based on optical and radio as well as acoustic detectors. For the detection of neutrino events in this energy range a combination of different detector concepts in one experiment seems to be most promising.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figures, to be published in Nuclear Physics B (Proceedings Supplement): Proceedings of the XXIst International Conference on Neutrino Physics and Astrophysics, Paris, June 14-19, 200

First results on angular response and efficiency of acoustic sensors of the South Pole Acoustic Test Setup

The South Pole Acoustic Test Setup consists of four strings, each instrumented with seven acoustic sensors and transmitters frozen in the upper 500 m of the South Pole glacial ice. SPATS sensors have been extensively studied in the laboratory at changing temperatures and pressure in air, water and ice. It was however impossible to create conditions like in deep ice at the South Pole. We present here different methods to investigate angular response and efficiency of the acoustic sensors after deployment. The corresponding results are used to discuss the reliability of SPATS detector measurements. We conclude with an outlook on the applicability of the described methods to future acoustic or hybrid detectors for the detection of cosmic neutrinos in ice

Acoustic detection of ultra-high energetic neutrinos - a snap shot

Already more than 30 years ago the acoustic particle detection method has been considered to be one possibility to measure signals from ultra-high energetic neutrinos. The present status and problems of corresponding model predictions are discussed in comparison with existing experimental measurements. Available acoustic sensors and transmitters are described and new ideas for corresponding applications are mentioned. Different methods for in-situ calibrations are discussed. Results of measurements of acoustic test arrays at different sites are presented in some detail. Future activities for applications of the technology in large size detectors are evaluated.Comment: 8 pages, 12 figures, contribution to the proceedings of RICAP11, Rome 201

Acoustic particle detection: From early ideas to future benefits

The history of acoustic neutrino detection technology is shortly reviewed from first ideas 50 years ago to the detailed R&D programs of the last decade. The physics potential of ultra-high energy neutrino interaction studies is discussed for some examples. Ideas about the necessary detector size and suitable design are presented.Comment: 4 pages, contribution to the ARENA 2010 conference proceedings, submitted to Nucl. Instr. and Methods

Lightning Imaging with LOFAR

We show that LOFAR can be used as a lightning mapping array with a resolution that is orders of magnitude better than existing arrays. In addition the polarization of the radiation can be used to track the direction of the stepping discharges

Introduction to the SalSA, a saltdome shower array as a GZK neutrino observatory

The observed spectrum of ultra-high energy cosmic rays virtually guarantees the presence of ultra-high energy neutrinos due to their interaction with the cosmic microwave background. Every one of these neutrinos will point back to its source and, unlike cosmic rays, will arrive at the Earth unattenuated, from sources perhaps as distant as z=20. The neutrino telescopes currently under construction, should discover a handful of these events, probably too few for detailed study. In this talk I will describe how an array of VHF and UHF antennas embedded in a large salt dome, SalSA (Saltdome Shower Array) promises to yield a teraton detector (\u3e 500 km3-sr) for contained neutrino events with energies above 1017 eV. Our simulations show that such a detector may observe several hundreds of these neutrinos over its lifetime. Our simulations also show how such interactions will provide high energy physicists with an energy frontier for weak interactions an order-of-magnitude larger than that of the LHC. The flavor ID capalities of SALSA, combined with the extreme L/E of these neutrinos, will provide a window on neutrino oscillations and decay times eight orders of magnitude higher than laboratory experiments. In addition to the latest simulation results, we describe progress on detectors and site selection. © World Scientific Publishing Company