Towards a Kilometer-Scale Neutrino Detector: The AMANDA/ICECUBE Experiment.
Robert M. Morse,
University of Wisconsin
Abstract
While conventional astronomy can investigate the photon spectrum from
radio to GeV gamma-rays, the remnant "big-bang" radiation makes space
increasingly opaque to the most energetic photons. This limits our
ability to study the highest-energy processes from distant
sources. Neutrinos are not absorbed by this remnant radiation and thus
have a distinct advantage in this energy regime.
We will present performance results from AMANDA, a recently
commissioned muon and neutrino telescope which uses large volumes of
South Pole ice as a neutrino detector. AMANDA is monitoring the sky
for neutrinos from supernovae and gamma ray bursts, and performing a
search for neutrinos from pulsars, black holes, and active galactic
nuclei (AGNs). We will argue that a high energy neutrino telescope
should ultimately have an effective volume of the order of a
cubic-kilometer.
Back to Spring 2000 Physics and Astronomy Colloquium Schedule