NuRadioMC is an open-source, Python-based simulation and reconstruction framework for radio detectors of ultra-high energy neutrinos and cosmic rays. Its modular design makes NuRadioMC suitable for use with a range of past, current and future detectors. In addition, the recent deployment
					of a complete documentation as well as a pip release make NuRadioMC relatively easy to learn and use. Here, we outline the features currently available and under development in NuRadioMC, with a focus on its usage to simulate and study in-ice radio neutrino detectors

Bouma, S.

Clark, B.

Giri, P.

Glaser, C.

Hallmann, S.

Heyer, N.

Kravchenko, I.

Nelles, A.

Oeyen, B.

Plaisier, I.

Pyras, L.

Schlüter, F.

Welling, C.

English

KITopen

PoS(ARENA2022)013Using NuRadioMC to study the performance of UHEradio neutrino detectorsS. Bouma,𝑎,∗ B. Clark,𝑏 P. Giri,𝑐 C. Glaser,𝑑 S. Hallmann,𝑒 N. Heyer,𝑑I. Kravchenko,𝑐 A. Nelles,𝑎,𝑒 B. Oeyen, 𝑓 I. Plaisier,𝑎,𝑒 L. Pyras,𝑎,𝑒 F. Schlüter𝑔,ℎ andC. Welling𝑖𝑎Erlangen Center for Astroparticle Physics (ECAP), Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg,91058 Erlangen, Germany𝑏Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University, East Lansing MI 48824, USA𝑐Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Univ. of Nebraska-Lincoln, NE, 68588, USA𝑑Uppsala University, Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala, SE-752 37, Sweden𝑒DESY, Platanenallee 6, 15738 Zeuthen, Germany𝑓 Ghent University, Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, B-9000 Gent, Belgium𝑔Institut für Kernphysik, Karslruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), PO Box 3640, 76021 Karlsruhe,GermanyℎUniversidad Nacional de San Martín, Instituto de Tecnologías en Detección y Astropartículas, BuenosAires, Argentina𝑖Dept. of Physics, Enrico Fermi Inst., Kavli Inst. for Cosmological Physics, University of Chicago,Chicago, IL 60637, USAE-mail: sjoerd.bouma@fau.deNuRadioMC is an open-source, Python-based simulation and reconstruction framework for radiodetectors of ultra-high energy neutrinos and cosmic rays. Its modular design makes NuRadioMCsuitable for use with a range of past, current and future detectors. In addition, the recent deploymentof a complete documentation as well as a pip release make NuRadioMC relatively easy to learnand use. Here, we outline the features currently available and under development in NuRadioMC,with a focus on its usage to simulate and study in-ice radio neutrino detectors.9th International Workshop on Acoustic and Radio EeV Neutrino Detection Activities - ARENA20227-10 June 2022Santiago de Compostela, Spain∗Speaker© Copyright owned by the author(s) under the terms of the Creative CommonsAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). https://pos.sissa.it/PoS(ARENA2022)013Using NuRadioMC to study the performance of UHE radio neutrino detectors S. Bouma1. IntroductionTwo key aspects to the design and operation of large-scale physics experiments are the simu-lation and reconstruction of the expected observations. As with all code development, challengesinclude ensuring the (continued) accuracy of simulations, enabling new users to learn how to use it,and avoiding the duplication of development efforts. NuRadioMC [1, 2], an open-source, python-based software framework for simulation and reconstruction for radio detectors of ultra-high energy(UHE) neutrinos and cosmic rays, aims to tackle these through1. an extensive comparison with existing codes, as well as continuous automatic and manualconsistency checks;2. a complete API documentation, annotated examples, and a pip-installable release;3. a modular design, enabling straightforward adaptation for a wide range of use cases.Thanks to the above, NuRadioMC has been used in an increasing number of studies and publications.An up-to-date overview of these is provided on the NuRadioMC GitHub page1. For all releasedfeatures, annotated examples, manuals, and a description of the relevant modules can be found aspart of the code base or in the online documentation2.This article will provide a brief introduction to the features available in NuRadioMC, as well asthose currently in development. In section 2, we provide an overview of the simulation capabilitiesof NuRadioMC, with the reconstruction algorithms outlined in section 3.2. SimulationThe simulation of UHE radio emission from particle to detector is split up into several stages,each incorporated in an independent module:1. event generation;2. radio signal generation;3. in-ice signal propagation;4. detector response.Figure 1 shows a sketch of the simulation process. The modular approach provides the user withthe flexibility to use or modify only a specific part of the simulation; one can for example simulatethe electric fields of an in-air cosmic ray shower using CoREAS [3], and use these as an input inthe detector simulation in NuRadioMC.An extensive description of the simulation features in NuRadioMC can be found in the originalNuRadioMC paper [2]. A brief summary, focussing in particular on the new features introducedsince then, is presented in the following sections.1github.com/nu-radio/NuRadioMC2nu-radio.github.io/NuRadioMC/main2PoS(ARENA2022)013Using NuRadioMC to study the performance of UHE radio neutrino detectors S. BoumaFigure 1: A sketch of the simulation process in NuRadioMC: 1. Generating the UHE particle shower(e.g. neutrino) (blue, yellow); 2. Simulating the Askaryan radio emission from the in-ice shower (red); 3.Propagating the radio signal through the ice (orange); 4. Incorporating the hardware response (antenna,amplifier, ...) of the detector (green).2.1 Event generationThe first step of the simulation is the generation of the UHE particle showers. For neutrinos,NuRadioMC comes with several flux models, although one can of course also simulate a customflux by an appropriate convolution of log-uniform energy bins. The relevant quantities generated inthis step are the shower position, direction, energy, type (hadronic or electromagnetic) and weightdue to attenuation in the earth. It is also possible to take into account secondary interactions from 𝜇and 𝜏 by using Proposal [4–6], a Monte-Carlo code that simulates the propagation and stochasticenergy losses of charged leptons.2.2 Radio signal generationSeveral models for the in-ice Askaryan radio emission are included in NuRadioMC throughthe NuRadioMC.SignalGen.askaryan module. More details can be found in the NuRadioMCpaper [2]. In particular, there are both fast, fully analytic models such as Alvarez2009 [7], whichare suitable for e.g. effective volume studies, as well as the highly accurate semi-analytic ARZ2020model [8, 9], which includes a library of shower profiles to account for the LPM effect. This lattermodel has been verified to agree with microscopic Monte-Carlo simulations to the level of a coupleof percent, and is therefore suitable for neutrino identification or reconstruction studies.2.3 Signal propagationAs the index of refraction in ice is not constant, the radio emission does not travel alongstraight lines, but along multiple (’direct’ and ’refracted’/’reflected’) curved trajectories. For theapproximation of an exponential index of refraction profile, this can be solved analytically, andNuRadioMC includes a fast, C++-based ray tracer that does this. For more complicated icemodels, one has to resort to solving the ray tracing problem numerically, which can be done byinstalling RadioPropa [10, 11], which is under ongoing development and can already be used fromNuRadioMC.3PoS(ARENA2022)013Using NuRadioMC to study the performance of UHE radio neutrino detectors S. Bouma−0.10.00.1𝑉(mV)(a)9500 9550𝑡 (ns)0.00.2|𝜌|datasignaltemplate0.000.25 (4, 16)(b)0.000.25max𝑡(|𝜌𝑖(𝑡)||𝜌𝑗(𝑡+Δ𝑡)|)(4, 22)−500 0 500Δ𝑡 (ns)0.000.25 (4, 26)1000 2000distance (m)−1000−800−600−400depth(m)(c)simulatedfit5.07.510.012.5correlationFigure 2: The vertex fitting algorithm in NuRadioReco. (a) The recorded voltage trace is correlated with asignal template for each channel. (b) The correlations 𝜌𝑖, 𝑗 for different channels (𝑖, 𝑗) are shifted with respectto each other by Δ𝑡 and then multiplied together. This results in a peak for the ’true’ timing difference. (c)The sum of the correlation over all possible channel pairs and ray types is maximized as a function of vertexposition.In addition, polar ice can be a birefringent medium, due to alignment of the ice crystals with theice flow or gravitational stress. Code to simulate birefringence in NuRadioMC has been developedrecently [12], and is expected to be included in the main release version soon.2.4 Detector responseThe final step of the UHE radio shower simulation is the detector hardware response. NuRa-dioMC provides the flexibility to specify the signal chain either using human-readable files in JSONformat, or through a database for a more advanced, time-dependent detector description. An arrayof different trigger options (high-low threshold, envelope, phased array, etc.) is also available.In addition to the built-in options in NuRadioMC, one can also easily define a custom hardware(e.g. filter or amplifier) response or trigger by adapting just a couple of lines of code.3. ReconstructionThe reconstruction capabilities of NuRadioMC are included as part of the NuRadioReco [1]modules. Several standard data processing and reconstruction modules for both neutrinos andcosmic rays are available. In general, the reconstruction of an in-ice radio event has three aspects:first, the interaction vertex (which is, approximately, the source of the radio emission) has to bereconstructed. Using the reconstructed vertex as an input, both the energy and the direction ofthe radio shower can then be determined. The following sections give a brief summary of thereconstruction algorithms currently available in NuRadioReco.3.1 Vertex reconstructionThe reconstruction algorithm for the in-ice interaction vertex works through cross-correlationof the voltage traces with a pulse template. The maximum cross-correlation between differentchannels would then be expected when their relative time shift corresponds to the actual difference4PoS(ARENA2022)013Using NuRadioMC to study the performance of UHE radio neutrino detectors S. Boumain pulse arrival times. The vertex position is obtained by maximizing the total channel-channelcorrelation. This process is illustrated in Figure 2.In order to avoid recomputing the ray propagation times for each vertex position in the fitprocedure, they can be precomputed once on a (2D, in the case of azimuthal symmetry) grid foreach antenna depth. The propagation times are then obtained by interpolation. More details can befound in section 3 of [13].3.2 Direction reconstructionOnce the interaction vertex position is known, it is possible to determine other properties ofthe in-ice shower, such as its direction or total energy flux. The direction reconstruction algorithmsavailable in NuRadioMC are based on the forward-folding principle [1]: the total detector responseis simulated for a given shower direction and energy. The reconstructed direction is then obtainedby minimizing the 𝜒2 difference with the measured voltage trace. Implementations exist for bothshallow (’ARIANNA-like’) [14] and deep (’ARA-like’) [15] in-ice radio detectors. The latter willbe included in NuRadioReco in an upcoming release.3.3 Energy reconstructionAlthough the shower energy can be obtained through the forward-folding approach outlinedin subsection 3.2, NuRadioReco additionally contains an energy reconstruction algorithm based onInformation Field Theory (IFT). This approach allows for a more model-independent way to obtainthe electric field pulse from the antenna measurements from which the neutrino energy is estimated.More details on this algorithm are given in [13].4. ConclusionNuRadioMC is a tool under active development, suitable for many detectors in the radioneutrino and cosmic ray world. It implements state-of-the-art physics and also serves as a well-tested reference implementation for the radio community. Its modularity allows for straightforwardadditions, modifications and comparisons between different approaches. The availability of anextensive documentation and tutorials additionally enable new users to quickly run their firstsimulation or reconstruction study. Should you consider using NuRadioMC for your experiment,please do not hesitate to reach out to the development team.References[1] C. Glaser, A. Nelles, I. Plaisier, C. Welling, S.W. Barwick, D. García-Fernández et al.,NuRadioReco: a reconstruction framework for radio neutrino detectors, The EuropeanPhysical Journal C 79 (2019) .[2] C. Glaser, D. García-Fernández, A. Nelles, J. Alvarez-Muñiz, S.W. Barwick, D.Z. Bessonet al., NuRadioMC: simulating the radio emission of neutrinos from interaction to detector,The European Physical Journal C 80 (2020) .5PoS(ARENA2022)013Using NuRadioMC to study the performance of UHE radio neutrino detectors S. Bouma[3] T. Huege, M. Ludwig and C.W. James, Simulating radio emission from air showers withCoREAS, AIP Conf. Proc. 1535 (2013) 128 [1301.2132].[4] J.-H. Koehne, K. Frantzen, M. Schmitz, T. Fuchs, W. Rhode, D. Chirkin et al., Proposal: Atool for propagation of charged leptons, Computer Physics Communications 184 (2013)2070.[5] D. García-Fernández, A. Nelles and C. Glaser, Signatures of secondary leptons inradio-neutrino detectors in ice, Phys. Rev. D 102 (2020) 083011 [2003.13442].[6] C. Glaser, D. García-Fernández and A. Nelles, Prospects for neutrino-flavor physics within-ice radio detectors, PoS ICRC2021 (2021) 1231.[7] J. Alvarez-Muniz, W.R. Carvalho, Jr., M. Tueros and E. Zas, Coherent Cherenkov radiopulses from hadronic showers up to EeV energies, Astropart. Phys. 35 (2012) 287[1005.0552].[8] J. Alvarez-Muniz, A. Romero-Wolf and E. Zas, Cherenkov radio pulses from electromagneticshowers in the time-domain, Phys. Rev. D 81 (2010) 123009 [1002.3873].[9] J. Alvarez-Muñiz, P.M. Hansen, A. Romero-Wolf and E. Zas, Askaryan radiation fromneutrino-induced showers in ice, Phys. Rev. D 101 (2020) 083005 [2003.09705].[10] B. Oeyen, I. Plaisier, A. Nelles, C. Glaser and T. Winchen, Effects of firn ice models on radioneutrino simulations using a RadioPropa ray tracer, PoS ICRC2021 (2021) 1027.[11] T. Winchen, RadioPropa — A Modular Raytracer for In-Matter Radio Propagation, EPJWeb Conf. 216 (2019) 03002 [1810.01780].[12] N. Heyer and C. Glaser, First-principle calculation of birefringence effects for in-ice radiodetection of neutrinos, 2205.06169.[13] J.A. Aguilar et al., Reconstructing the neutrino energy for in-ice radio detectors: A study forthe Radio Neutrino Observatory Greenland (RNO-G), Eur. Phys. J. C 82 (2022) 147[2107.02604].[14] G.G. Gaswint, Quantifying the Neutrino Energy and Pointing Resolution of the ARIANNADetector, Ph.D. thesis, UC, Irvine, 2021.[15] RNO-G collaboration, Direction Reconstruction for the Radio Neutrino ObservatoryGreenland (RNO-G), PoS ICRC2021 (2021) 1026.6

Using NuRadioMC to study the performance of UHE radio neutrino detectors

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Using NuRadioMC to study the performance of UHE radio neutrino detectors

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