ANITA: Using ZHAireS to simulate upward traveling tau-neutrinos

• Main Author: Karamitsos, Cora Marie
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: DigitalCommons@CalPoly 2018
• Subjects: Physics; ANITA; neutrino; neutrinos; ZHAireS; AIRES; Elementary Particles and Fields and String Theory; Other Physics; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/star/524

As we attempt to understand cosmological events that occur in galaxies far away from our own, scientists search for the few particles that are capable of traversing vast distances. Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECR) are produced in these astronomical events, and these rays create neutrinos that eventually make their way to Earth. The ANITA detector is flown over Antarctica with the goal of detecting the radio emissions from air-showers produced by neutrinos and cosmic rays. This summer I compiled and ran the simulation program ZHAireS in order to get simulated data on tau-neutrinos that pass through Earth and create upward propagating air showers. I created a configuration macro in order to manipulate and record various parameters of the air shower, such as the energy of the primary particle, zenith angle, decay height and the array of antennas. I also plotted output simulation data from the antennas and worked to understand the differences in radio emission signals and noise.