Radio Detection of Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Neutrinos

摘要

Ultra-high energy (UHE) neutrino astronomy constitutes a new window of observation onto the UHE universe. The detection and characterization of astrophysical neutrinos at the highest energies (E> 10~(18) eV) would reveal the sources of high-energy cosmic rays, the highest energy particles ever seen, and would constrain the evolution of such sources over time. UHE neutrino astrophysics also allows us to probe weak interaction couplings at energies much greater than those available at particle colliders. One promising way of detecting the highest energy neutrinos is through the radio emission created when they interact in a large volume of dielectric, such as ice. Here I discuss current results and future efforts to instrument large volumes of detector material with radio antennas to detect, point back, and characterize the energy of UHE astrophysical neutrinos.