Towards Radio Frequency Detection of High-Energy Neutrinos and Cosmic Rays

• Main Author: Paciaroni, Caroline
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: DigitalCommons@CalPoly 2016
• Subjects: Antarctic; Antarc*
• Online Access: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/bkendowments/39; https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/context/bkendowments/article/1045/viewcontent/BK_Paciaroni_Final_Report_Winter_16.pdf; https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/context/bkendowments/article/1045/filename/0/type/additional/viewcontent/BK_Paciaroni_Proposal_Winter_2016.pdf

The goal of the project was to measure the impulse response of a bicone antenna used in an experiment done at the SLAC National Laboratory in 2014.The SLAC T-­‐510 experiment measured a particle air shower in a lab environment by directing the SLAC particle beam into a dielectric material and measuring, with antennas, the resultant radio-­‐frequency signal produced.The experiment is significant to understanding how extremely high-energy particles such as cosmic rays and neutrinos interact.These high-­energy particles carry information about the extremely volatile events happening in universe.Potential sources of these particles include Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) and Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs).This topic is vital to many particle physics experiments that are looking to detect these particles, whether through ground-based cosmic ray telescopes like LOFAR (Low-Frequency Array) or neutrino detectione xperiments like ANITA (ANtarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna) or ARA (Askaryan Radio Array). While the SLACT-­‐510 experiment team has analyzed their results for one of the antennas used, the low-­frequency (30-­‐300MHz) bicone antennas analysis has yet to be completed, as the effective height of the antennas had not been measured at the time of the experiment. The effective height is a property that allows for comparison between the measured voltages of the antenna and the simulated electric field, and is required in order to make comparisons between the measured data and the theoretical model. As with any experiment, the ability to compare one’s results to what is expected is vital to forming conclusions.Thus,the primary goal of this project was to measure the impulse response of these antennas, which leads directly towards the calculation of the effective height of the antenna,and the ability to analyze the results of the SLAC T-­‐510 experiment.