Simulation and sensitivities for a phased IceCube-Gen2 deployment

• Main Authors: Clark, Brian, Halliday, Robert
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: arXiv 2021
• Subjects: High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena astro-ph.HE; FOS Physical sciences; Antarctic; Antarc*
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2107.08500; https://arxiv.org/abs/2107.08500

The IceCube Neutrino Observatory opened the window on high-energy neutrino astronomy by confirming the existence of PeV astrophysical neutrinos and identifying the first compelling astrophysical neutrino source in the blazar TXS0506+056. Planning is underway to build an enlarged detector, IceCube-Gen2, which will extend measurements to higher energies, increase the rate of observed cosmic neutrinos and provide improved prospects for detecting fainter sources. IceCube-Gen2 is planned to have an extended in-ice optical array, a radio array at shallower depths for detecting ultra-high-energy (>100 PeV) neutrinos, and a surface component studying cosmic rays. In this contribution, we will discuss the simulation of the in-ice optical component of the baseline design of the IceCube-Gen2 detector, which foresees the deployment of an additional ~120 new detection strings to the existing 86 in IceCube over ~7 Antarctic summer seasons. Motivated by the phased construction plan for IceCube-Gen2, we discuss how the reconstruction capabilities and sensitivities of the instrument are expected to progress throughout its deployment. : Presented at the 37th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC 2021). See arXiv:2107.06968 for all IceCube-Gen2 contributions. 8 pages, 6 figures