LUNASKA experiments using the Australia Telescope Compact Array to search for ultra-high energy neutrinos and develop technology for the lunar Cherenkov technique

Abstract

We describe the design, performance, sensitivity and results of our recent experiments using the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) for lunar Cherenkov observations with a very wide (600 MHz) bandwidth and nanosecond timing, including a limit on an isotropic neutrino flux. We also make a first estimate of the effects of small-scale surface roughness on the effective experimental aperture, finding that contrary to expectations, such roughness will act to increase the detectability of near-surface events over the neutrino energy-range at which our experiment is most sensitive (though distortions to the time-domain pulse profile may make identification more difficult). The aim of our "Lunar UHE Neutrino Astrophysics using the Square Kilometer Array" (LUNASKA) project is to develop the lunar Cherenkov technique of using terrestrial radio telescope arrays for ultra-high energy (UHE) cosmic ray (CR) and neutrino detection, and in particular to prepare for using the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) and its path-finders such as the Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP) and the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) for lunar Cherenkov experiments.

27 pages, 18 figures, 4 tables.

References in corpus (11)

• Science with ASKAP - the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder
• Science With The Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder
• Observations of the Askaryan Effect in Ice
• Limit on the diffuse flux of ultra-high energy tau neutrinos with the surface detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory
• New Limits on the Ultra-high Energy Cosmic Neutrino Flux from the ANITA Experiment
• Measurement of the Flux of Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays by the Stereo Technique
• The sensitivity of the next generation of lunar Cherenkov observations to UHE neutrinos and cosmic rays
• Limit on UHE Neutrino Flux from the Parkes Lunar Radio Cherenkov Experiment
• Analytic Aperture Calculation and Scaling Laws for Radio Detection of Lunar-Target UHE Neutrinos
• The Directional Dependence of Apertures, Limits and Sensitivity of the Lunar Cherenkov Technique to a UHE Neutrino Flux
• Comparison of the Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Ray Flux Observed by AGASA, HiRes and Auger

Cited by in corpus (39)

• The Australia Telescope Compact Array Broadband Backend (CABB)
• The high energy neutrino cross-section in the Standard Model and its uncertainty
• General description of electromagnetic radiation processes based on instantaneous charge acceleration in `endpoints'
• Updated Results from the RICE Experiment and Future Prospects for Ultra-High Energy Neutrino Detection at the South Pole
• Cherenkov radio pulses from electromagnetic showers in the time-domain
• Practical and accurate calculations of Askaryan radiation
• A prototype station for ARIANNA: a detector for cosmic neutrinos
• Electron and Photon Interactions in the Regime of Strong LPM Suppression
• Coherent Cherenkov radio pulses from hadronic showers up to EeV energies
• UHE neutrino searches using a Lunar target: First Results from the RESUN search
• Surveying the Dynamic Radio Sky with the Long Wavelength Demonstrator Array
• LUNASKA Experiment Observational Limits on UHE Neutrinos from Centaurus A and the Galactic Center
• Bayesian Inference Constraints on Astrophysical Production of Ultra-high Energy Cosmic Rays and Cosmogenic Neutrino Flux Predictions
• The neutrino-nucleon cross section at UHE and its astrophysical implications
• A new limit on the Ultra-High-Energy Cosmic-Ray flux with the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope
• The sensitivity of past and near-future lunar radio experiments to ultra-high-energy cosmic rays and neutrinos
• Calculations of electric fields for radio detection of Ultra-High Energy particles
• Askaryan radiation from neutrino-induced showers in ice
• Transition radiation at radio frequencies from ultra-high energy neutrino-induced showers
• A lunar radio experiment with the Parkes radio telescope for the LUNASKA project
• Discovering the Sky at the Longest Wavelengths with Small Satellite Constellations
• Optimized Trigger for Ultra-High-Energy Cosmic-Ray and Neutrino Observations with the Low Frequency Radio Array
• Search for Acoustic Signals from Ultra-High Energy Neutrinos in 1500 km^3 of Sea Water
• Near-future discovery of point sources of ultra-high-energy neutrinos
• A limit on the ultra-high-energy neutrino flux from lunar observations with the Parkes radio telescope
• Overview of lunar detection of ultra-high energy particles and new plans for the SKA
• Feasibility of Determining Diffuse Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Neutrino Flavor Ratio through ARA Neutrino Observatory
• Review of the Multimessenger Working Group at UHECR-2012
• Noise statistics in a fast digital radio receiver: the Bedlam backend for the Parkes Radio Telescope
• Probing superheavy dark matter through lunar radio observations of ultrahigh-energy neutrinos and the impacts of neutrino cascades
• Search for Ultra-High-Energy Neutrinos with the Telescope Array Surface Detector
• Status and Strategies of Current LUNASKA Lunar Cherenkov Observations with the Parkes Radio Telescope
• Ultra High Energy Neutrinos: Absorption, Thermal Effects and Signatures
• Prospects of Probing the Radio Emission of Lunar UHECRv Events
• Detection of Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays and Neutrinos with Lunar Orbital Radio Telescope
• Antarctic Radio Frequency Albedo and Implications for Cosmic Ray Reconstruction
• Constraining GRB as Source for UHE Cosmic Rays through Neutrino Observations
• Sensitivity of lunar particle-detection experiments
• Configuration Requirements for 21-cm Forest Background Quasar Searches with the Moon-based Interferometer