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Register a new userTrinity: An Imaging Air Cherenkov Telescope to Search for Ultra-High-Energy Neutrinos
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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.
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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)
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.
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.
In this paper we describe the different software and hardware elements of a mini-telescope for the detection of cosmic rays and gamma-rays using the Cherenkov light emitted by their induced particle showers in the atmosphere. We estimate the physics reach of the standalone mini-telescope and present some results of the measurements done at the Sauverny Observatory of the University of Geneva and at the Saint-Luc Observatory, which demonstrate the ability of the telescope to observe cosmic rays with energy above about 100 TeV. Such a mini-telescope can constitute a cost-effective out-trigger array that can surround other gamma-ray telescopes or extended air showers detector arrays. Its development was born out of the desire to illustrate to students and amateurs the cosmic ray and gamma-ray detection from ground, as an example of what is done in experiments using larger telescopes. As a matter of fact, a mini-telescope can be used in outreach night events. While outreach is becoming more and more important in the scientific community to raise interest in the general public, the realisation of the mini-telescope is also a powerful way to train students on instrumentation such as photosensors, their associated electronics, acquisition software and data taking. In particular, this mini-telescope uses silicon photomultipliers (SiPM) and the dedicated ASIC, CITIROC.
The First G-APD Cherenkov Telescope (FACT) became operational at La Palma in October 2011. Since summer 2012, due to very smooth and stable operation, it is the first telescope of its kind that is routinely operated from remote, without the need for a data-taking crew on site. In addition, many standard tasks of operation are executed automatically without the need for manual interaction. Based on the experience gained so far, some alterations to improve the safety of the system are under development to allow robotic operation in the future. We present the setup and precautions used to implement remote operations and the experience gained so far, as well as the work towards robotic operation.
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