Status of IceCube-DeepCore: sensitivity study for the Southern Hemisphere
by
Claudine Colnard(MPI Heidelberg)
→
Europe/Brussels
Large seminar room : 1G-003 (Universe)
Large seminar room : 1G-003
Universe
VUB - Building G
Description
The IceCube neutrino telescope is constructed to search for high energy neutrinos of cosmic origin. The detector site at the geographic South Pole is optimal for the detection of neutrinos from all regions of the sky. At energies below 1 PeV however, the aperture of the conventional upward-going muon analysis is limited to only the Northern Hemisphere due to the dominating background of downward-going atmospheric muons. This restriction leaves out a large fraction of the Galactic Plane and a number of interesting objects such as the Galactic Center.
A singular approach to observe the Southern sky at intermediate energies with IceCube is presented. The compact Cherenkov detector DeepCore at the center of IceCube is used to enhance the sensitivity of the telescope and extend its field of view to a full sky observation below 1 PeV. The outer layers of IceCube provide a veto volume to discriminate the cosmic neutrino signal against the much higher atmospheric muon background. Under certain conditions, this veto technique also allows to reduce the flux of downward-going atmospheric neutrinos which constitute generally an irreducible background in neutrino astronomy.
The detector performances have been determined by means of especially developed Monte Carlo simulations, in preparation for the analysis of the first data of IceCube-DeepCore which will be fully operational by February 2011. The impact of the new observational method on the discovery potential and the sensitivity of IceCube-DeepCore to the flux of neutrinos expected from the supernova remnant SNR RXJ 1713.7 3946, a benchmark source for the Southern Hemisphere will be discussed.
