A Radio Air-Shower Test Array (RASTA) for IceCube

摘要

In this paper we explore the possibility to complement the cosmic ray physicsprogram of the IceCube observatory with an extended surface array of radioantennas. The combination of air-shower sampling on the surface and muoncalorimetry underground offers significant scientifc potential: the neutrinosensitivity above the horizon can be enhanced by vetoing air-showers on theground, photon-induced air-showers can be identifed by their small muoncomponent and the coincident measurement of the particle density on the surfaceand the muon component gives useful information on the composition of theprimary flux. All of these analyses are pursued with the existing IceTop array.However, the IceTop footprint is small compared to the acceptance of the InIcesensor array, which severely limits the solid angle for coincidentmeasurements, calling for an extended surface air-shower detector. Asdemonstrated by the LOPES experiment, measuring air-showers through theirgeosynchrotron emission has become a viable and cost-efficient method. Thescience case for the RASTA project - a dedicated radio array seeking to exploitthis method at the South Pole - is presented.