The CosmicWatch Desktop Muon Detector: a self-contained, pocket sized particle detector

The CosmicWatch Desktop Muon Detector is a self-contained, hand-held cosmic ray muon detector that is valuable for astro/particle physics research applications and outreach. The material cost of each detector is under $100 and it takes a novice student approximately four hours to build their first detector. The detectors are powered via a USB connection and the data can either be recorded directly to a computer or to a microSD card. Arduino- and Python-based software is provided to operate the detector and an online application to plot the data in real-time. In this paper, we describe the various design features, evaluate the performance, and illustrate the detectors capabilities by providing several example measurements.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figure

The desktop muon detector: A simple, physics-motivated machine- and electronics-shop project for university students

This paper describes the construction of a desktop muon detector, an undergraduate-level physics project that develops machine-shop and electronics-shop technical skills. The desktop muon detector is a self-contained apparatus that employs a plastic scintillator as the detection medium and a silicon photomultiplier for light collection. This detector can be battery powered and is used in conjunction with the provided software. The total cost per detector is approximately $100. We describe physics experiments we have performed, and then suggest several other interesting measurements that are possible, with one or more desktop muon detectors.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant 1505858

The front-end of IsoDAR

The Isotope Decay-At-Rest (IsoDAR) experiment is a cyclotron based neutrino oscillation exper- iment that is capable of decisively searching for low-mass sterile neutrinos. This paper outlines two new approaches that the IsoDAR collaboration are pursuing in order to increase the amount of H + 2 captured in the cyclotron through innovations in the design of the front-end. A new dedicated multicusp ion source (MIST-1) is currently being commissioned and tested at the Plasma Science and Fusion Center (PSFC) at MIT. Based on previous results from this type of ion source, we ex- pect to be able to achieve an H+₂ current density that will be sufficient for the IsoDAR experiment. We also discuss the results of a new investigation into using a radio frequency quadrupole (RFQ) as a high-efficiency buncher to improve the injection efficiency into the cyclotron.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant 1505858)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant 1626069

Cost Estimates for the KPipe Experiment

We present estimates for the cost of the KPipe experiment. Excluding the cost of civil engineering, the total cost comes to 4.6 million USD. This report supports statements in arXiv article 1506.05811

SEARCH FOR SOURCES OF HIGH-ENERGY NEUTRONS WITH FOUR YEARS OF DATA FROM THE ICETOP DETECTOR

IceTop is an air-shower array located on the Antarctic ice sheet at the geographic South Pole. IceTop can detect an astrophysical flux of neutrons from Galactic sources as an excess of cosmic-ray air showers arriving from the source direction. Neutrons are undeflected by the Galactic magnetic field and can typically travel 10 (E/PeV) pc before decay. Two searches are performed using 4 yr of the IceTop data set to look for a statistically significant excess of events with energies above 10 PeV (1016 eV) arriving within a small solid angle. The all-sky search method covers from −90° to approximately −50° in declination. No significant excess is found. A targeted search is also performed, looking for significant correlation with candidate sources in different target sets. This search uses a higher-energy cut (100 PeV) since most target objects lie beyond 1 kpc. The target sets include pulsars with confirmed TeV energy photon fluxes and high-mass X-ray binaries. No significant correlation is found for any target set. Flux upper limits are determined for both searches, which can constrain Galactic neutron sources and production scenarios.National Science Foundation (U.S.). Division of Polar ProgramsNational Science Foundation (U.S.). Division of PhysicsUniversity of Wisconsin. Grid Laboratory of WisconsinUniversity of Wisconsin. Alumni Research FoundationOpen Science GridUnited States. Department of EnergyNational Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (U.S.)Louisiana Optical Network Initiativ

Constraints on Galactic Neutrino Emission with Seven Years of IceCube Data

The origins of high-energy astrophysical neutrinos remain a mystery despite extensive searches for their sources. We present constraints from seven years of IceCube Neutrino Observatory muon data on the neutrino flux coming from the Galactic plane. This flux is expected from cosmic-ray interactions with the interstellar medium or near localized sources. Two methods were developed to test for a spatially extended flux from the entire plane, both of which are maximum likelihood fits but with different signal and background modeling techniques. We consider three templates for Galactic neutrino emission based primarily on gamma-ray observations and models that cover a wide range of possibilities. Based on these templates and in the benchmark case of an unbroken E [superscript -2.5] power-law energy spectrum, we set 90% confidence level upper limits, constraining the possible Galactic contribution to the diffuse neutrino flux to be relatively small, less than 14% of the flux reported in Aartsen et al. above 1 TeV. A stacking method is also used to test catalogs of known high-energy Galactic gamma-ray sources

Search for Astrophysical Sources of Neutrinos Using Cascade Events in IceCube

The IceCube neutrino observatory has established the existence of a flux of high-energy astrophysical neutrinos, which is inconsistent with the expectation from atmospheric backgrounds at a significance greater than 5σ. This flux has been observed in analyses of both track events from muon neutrino interactions and cascade events from interactions of all neutrino flavors. Searches for astrophysical neutrino sources have focused on track events due to the significantly better angular resolution of track reconstructions. To date, no such sources have been confirmed. Here we present the first search for astrophysical neutrino sources using cascades interacting in IceCube with deposited energies as small as 1 TeV. No significant clustering was observed in a selection of 263 cascades collected from 2010 May to 2012 May. We show that compared to the classic approach using tracks, this statistically independent search offers improved sensitivity to sources in the southern sky, especially if the emission is spatially extended or follows a soft energy spectrum. This enhancement is due to the low background from atmospheric neutrinos forming cascade events and the additional veto of atmospheric neutrinos at declinations ≲-30