The Radar Echo Telescope

• Dylan Frikken (Ohio State University)

Room: G/1-G.1.03 - J. Sacton Ultra-high-energy (UHE) neutrinos are a unique probe into the cosmos. Neutrinos present a means to probe fundamental physics but have yet to be studied over several orders of magnitude at the highest energies. However, due to a steeply falling flux and a small interaction cross-section, UHE neutrinos are difficult to detect. To probe the UHE neutrino flux above a few PeV, many experiments are employing radio-based methods to increase the instrumented volume of detection. One such technique is the radar echo method, which relies on reflection of a transmitted radio wave off the ionization trail produced in a UHE neutrino interaction. In this talk, I will discuss the historical context, theoretical base, and status of the Radar Echo Telescope (RET) collaboration including the Radar Echo Telescope for Neutrinos (RET-N) and its pathfinder experiment, the Radar Echo Telescope for Cosmic Rays (RET-CR) which was recently deployed to Greenland. I will also discuss signal properties unique to the radar problem, and potential reconstruction techniques of the method.