No Arabic abstract
IceCube is a cubic-kilometer scale neutrino telescope located at the geographic South Pole. The detector utilizes the extremely transparent Antarctic ice as a medium for detecting Cherenkov radiation from neutrino interactions. While the optical properties of the glacial ice are generally well modeled and understood, the uncertainties which remain are still the dominant source of systematic uncertainties for many IceCube analyses. A camera and LED system is being built for the IceCube Upgrade that will enable the observation of optical properties throughout the Upgrade array. The SPICEcore hole, a 1.7 km deep ice-core hole located near the IceCube detector, has given the opportunity to test the performance of the camera system ahead of the Upgrade construction. In this contribution, we present the results of the camera and LED system deployment during the 2019/2020 austral summer season as part of a SPICEcore luminescence logger system.
The IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the geographic South Pole instruments a gigaton of glacial Antarctic ice with over 5000 photosensors. The detector, by now running for over a decade, will be upgraded with seven new densely instrumented strings. The project focuses on the improvement of low-energy and oscillation physics sensitivities as well as re-calibration of the existing detector. Over the last few years we developed a Precision Optical Calibration Module (POCAM) providing self-monitored, isotropic, nanosecond, light pulses for optical calibration of large-volume detectors. Over 20 next-generation POCAMs will be calibrated and deployed in the IceCube Upgrade in order to reduce existing detector systematics. We report a general overview of the POCAM instrument, its performance and calibration procedures.
The IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the geographic South Pole has reached a number of milestones in the field of neutrino astrophysics. The achievements of IceCube include the discovery of a high-energy astrophysical neutrino flux, and the temporal and directional correlation of neutrinos with a flaring blazar. The IceCube Upgrade, which will be constructed in the 2022/23 Antarctic Summer season, is the next stage of the IceCube project. The IceCube Upgrade consists of seven new columns of photosensors, densely embedded near the bottom center of the existing cubic-kilometer-scale IceCube Neutrino Observatory. An improved atmospheric neutrino event selection efficiency and reconstruction at a few GeV can be achieved with the dense infill of the Upgrades photosensor array. The Upgrade will provide world-leading sensitivity to neutrino oscillations and will enable IceCube to take unique measurements of tau neutrino appearance with a high precision. Furthermore, the new array will also improve the existing IceCube detector. The Upgrade strings will include new calibration devices designed to deepen the knowledge of the optical properties of glacial ice and the detector response. The improved calibration resulting from the Upgrade will be applied to the entire archive of IceCube data collected over the last 10 years, improving the angular and spatial resolution of the detected astrophysical neutrino events. Finally, the Upgrade represents the first stage in the development of IceCube-Gen2, the next-generation neutrino telescope at the South Pole.
The Wavelength-shifting Optical Module (WOM) is a novel optical sensor that uses wavelength shifting and light guiding to substantially enhance the photosensitive area of UV optical modules. It has been designed for the IceCube Upgrade, a seven-string extension of the IceCube detector planned for the 2022/2023 South Pole deployment season. The WOM consists of a hollow quartz cylinder coated in wavelength shifting paint which serves as detection area and has two photomultipliers (PMTs) attached to the end faces. The light-collecting tube increases the effective photocathode area of the PMTs without producing additional dark current, making it suitable for low-signal, low-noise applications. We report on the design and performance of the WOM with a focus on the 12 modules in production for deployment in the IceCube Upgrade. While the WOM will be deployed in IceCube, its design is applicable to any large-volume particle detector based on the detection of Cherenkov light.
Following the detection of high-energy astrophysical neutrinos in 2013, their origin is still unknown. Aiming for the identification of an electromagnetic counterpart of a rapidly fading source, we have implemented a realtime analysis framework for the IceCube neutrino observatory. Several analyses selecting neutrinos of astrophysical origin are now operating in realtime at the detector site in Antarctica and are producing alerts to the community to enable rapid follow-up observations. The goal of these observations is to locate the astrophysical objects responsible for these neutrino signals. This paper highlights the infrastructure in place both at the South Pole detector site and at IceCube facilities in the north that have enabled this fast follow-up program to be developed. Additionally, this paper presents the first realtime analyses to be activated within this framework, highlights their sensitivities to astrophysical neutrinos and background event rates, and presents an outlook for future discoveries.
The IceCube Neutrino Observatory opened the window on neutrino astronomy by discovering high-energy astrophysical neutrinos in 2013 and identifying the first compelling astrophysical neutrino source, the blazar TXS0506+056, in 2017. In this talk, we will discuss the science reach and ongoing development of the IceCube-Gen2 facility---a planned extension to IceCube. IceCube-Gen2 will increase the rate of observed cosmic neutrinos by an order of magnitude, be able to detect five-times fainter neutrino sources, and extend the measurement of astrophysical neutrinos several orders of magnitude higher in energy. We will discuss the envisioned design of the instrument, which will include an enlarged in-ice optical array, a surface array for the study of cosmic-rays, and a shallow radio array to detect ultra-high energy (>100 PeV) neutrinos. we will also highlight ongoing efforts to develop and test new instrumentation for IceCube-Gen2.