IceCube Science

• Main Author: Francis Halzen
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: South Pole; South pole
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.243.7246; http://arxiv.org/pdf/0901.4722v1.pdf

Abstract. We discuss the status of the kilometer-scale neutrino detector IceCube and its low energy upgrade Deep Core and review its scientific potential for particle physics. We subsequently appraise IceCube’s potential for revealing the enigmatic sources of cosmic rays. After all, this aspiration set the scale of the instrument. While only a smoking gun is missing for the case that the Galactic component of the cosmic ray spectrum originates in supernova remnants, the origin of the extragalactic component remains as inscrutable as ever. We speculate on the role of the nearby active galaxies Centaurus A and M87. 1. The First Kilometer-Scale High Energy Neutrino Detector: IceCube A series of first-generation experiments[1] have demonstrated that high energy neutrinos with ∼ 10 GeV energy and above can be detected by observing the Cherenkov radiation from secondary particles produced in neutrino interactions inside large volumes of highly transparent ice or water instrumented with a lattice of photomultiplier tubes. The first second-generation detector, IceCube, is under construction at the geographic South Pole[2]. IceCube will consist of 80 kilometer-length strings, each instrumented with 60 10-inch photomultipliers spaced by 17 m. The deepest module is located at a depth of 2.450 km so that the instrument is shielded