Development toward a ground-based interferometric phased array for radio detection of high energy neutrinos

• Main Authors: Avva, J, Bechtol, K, Chesebro, T, Cremonesi, L, Deaconu, C, Gupta, A, Ludwig, A, Messino, W, Miki, C, Nichol, R, Oberla, E, Ransom, M, Romero-Wolf, A, Saltzberg, D, Schlupf, C, Shipp, N, Varner, G, Vieregg, AG, Wissel, SA
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV 2017
• Subjects: Ultra-high energy neutrinos; radio detection; phased array; Greenland
• Online Access: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10050468/1/1605.03525.pdf; https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10050468/

The in-ice radio interferometric phased array technique for detection of high energy neutrinos looks for Askaryan emission from neutrinos interacting in large volumes of glacial ice, and is being developed as a way to achieve a low energy threshold and a large effective volume at high energies. The technique is based on coherently summing the impulsive Askaryan signal from multiple antennas, which increases the signal-to-noise ratio for weak signals. We report here on measurements and a simulation of thermal noise correlations between nearby antennas, beamforming of impulsive signals, and a measurement of the expected improvement in trigger efficiency through the phased array technique. We also discuss the noise environment observed with an analog phased array at Summit Station, Greenland, a possible site for an interferometric phased array for radio detection of high energy neutrinos.