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Register a new userTrinity: An Air-Shower Imaging System for the Detection of Ultrahigh Energy Neutrinos
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A. Nepomuk Otte
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Efforts to detect ultrahigh energy neutrinos are driven by several objectives: What is the origin of astrophysical neutrinos detected with IceCube? What are the sources of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays? Do the ANITA detected events point to new physics? Shedding light on these questions requires instruments that can detect neutrinos above $10^7$ GeV with sufficient sensitivity - a daunting task. While most ultrahigh energy neutrino experiments are based on the detection of a radio signature from shower particles following a neutrino interaction, we believe that the detection of Cherenkov and fluorescence light from shower particles is an attractive alternative. Imaging air showers with Cherenkov and fluorescence light is a technique that is successfully used in several ultrahigh energy cosmic ray and very-high energy gamma-ray experiments. We performed a case study of an air-shower imaging system for the detection of earth-skimming tau neutrinos. The detector configuration we consider consists of an imaging system that is located on top of a mountain and is pointed at the horizon. From the results of this study we conclude that a sensitivity of $3cdot10^{-9}$ GeV cm$^{-2}$s$^{-1}$sr$^{-1}$ can be achieved at $2cdot10^8$ GeV with a relatively small and modular system after three years of observation. In this presentation we discuss key findings of our study and how they translate into design requirements for an imaging system we dub Trinity.
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Trinity is a proposed air-shower imaging system optimized for the detection of earth-skimming ultrahigh energy tau neutrinos with energies between $10^7$ GeV and $10^{10}$ GeV. Trinity will pursue three major scientific objectives. 1) It will narrow in on possible source classes responsible for the astrophysical neutrino flux measured by IceCube. 2) It will help find the sources of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays (UHECR) and understand the composition of UHECR. 3) It will test fundamental neutrino physics at the highest energies. Trinity uses the imaging technique, which is well established and successfully used by the very high-energy gamma-ray community (CTA, H.E.S.S., MAGIC, and VERITAS) and the UHECR community (Telescope Array, Pierre Auger)
We discuss the acceptance and sensitivity of a small air-shower imaging system to detect earth-skimming ultrahigh-energy tau neutrinos. The instrument we study is located on top of a mountain and has an azimuthal field of view of $360^circ$. We find that the acceptance and sensitivity of such a system is close to maximal if it is located about 2 km above ground, has a vertical field of view of $5^circ$, allows the reconstruction of an at least $0.3^circ$ long air-shower image, and features an effective light-collection area of $10$ m$^2$ in any direction. After three years of operation, an imaging system with these features achieves an all-flavor neutrino flux sensitivity of $5times10^{-9}$ GeV cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$ sr$^{-1}$ at $2times10^8$ GeV.
Earth-skimming neutrinos are those which travel through the Earths crust at a shallow angle. For Ultra-High-Energy (E > 1 PeV; UHE) earth-skimming tau neutrinos, there is a high-probability that the tau lepton created by a neutrino-Earth interaction will emerge from the ground before it decays. When this happens, the decaying tau particle initiates an air shower of relativistic sub-atomic particles which emit Cherenkov radiation. To observe this Cherenkov radiation, we propose the Trinity Observatory. Using a novel optical structure design, pointing at the horizon, Trinity will observe the Cherenkov radiation from upward-going neutrino-induced air showers. Being sensitive to neutrinos in the 1-10,000 PeV energy range, Trinitys expected sensitivity will have a unique role to play filling the gap between the observed astrophysical neutrinos observed by IceCube and the expected sensitivity of radio UHE neutrino detectors.
Sparse digital antenna arrays constitute a promising detection technique for future large-scale cosmic-ray observatories. It has recently been shown that this kind of instrumentation can provide a resolution of the energy and of the shower maximum on the level of other cosmic-ray detection methods. Due to the dominant geomagnetic nature of the air-shower radio emission in the traditional frequency band of 30 to 80 MHz, the amplitude and polarization of the radio signal strongly depend on the azimuth and zenith angle of the arrival direction. Thus, the estimation of the efficiency and subsequently of the aperture of an antenna array is more complex than for particle or Cherenkov-light detectors. We have built a new efficiency model based on utilizing a lateral distribution function as a shower model, and a probabilistic treatment of the detection process. The model is compared to the data measured by the Tunka Radio Extension (Tunka-Rex), a digital antenna array with an area of about 1 km$^2$ located in Siberia at the Tunka Advanced Instrument for Cosmic rays and Gamma Ray Astronomy (TAIGA). Tunka-Rex detects radio emission of air showers using trigger from air-Cherenkov and particle detectors. The present study is an essential step towards the measurement of the cosmic-ray flux with Tunka-Rex, and is important for radio measurements of air showers in general.
To better understand the radio signal emitted by extensive air-showers and to further develop the radio detection technique of high-energy cosmic rays, the LOPES experiment was reconfigured to LOPES-3D. LOPES-3D is able to measure all three vectorial components of the electric field of radio emission from cosmic ray air showers. The additional measurement of the vertical component ought to increase the reconstruction accuracy of primary cosmic ray parameters like direction and energy, provides an improved sensitivity to inclined showers, and will help to validate simulation of the emission mechanisms in the atmosphere. LOPES-3D will evaluate the feasibility of vectorial measurements for large scale applications. In order to measure all three electric field components directly, a tailor-made antenna type (tripoles) was deployed. The change of the antenna type necessitated new pre-amplifiers and an overall recalibration. The reconfiguration and the recalibration procedure are presented and the operationality of LOPES-3D is demonstrated.
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