Prospects for radio detection of extremely high energy cosmic rays and neutrinos in the Moon

Abstract

We explore the feasibility of using the Moon as a detector of extremely high energy (>10^19 eV) cosmic rays and neutrinos. The idea is to use the existing radiotelescopes on Earth to look for short pulses of Cherenkov radiation in the GHz range emitted by showers induced just below the surface of the Moon when cosmic rays or neutrinos strike it. We estimate the energy threshold of the technique and the effective aperture and volume of the Moon for this detection. We apply our calculation to obtain the expected event rates from the observed cosmic ray flux and several representative theoretical neutrino fluxes.

arXiv comment11 pages, Latex, aipproc.sty and epsfig.sty. 5 ps figures. Talk presented by J. Alvarez-Muniz at the 1st International Workshop on Radio Detection of High Energy Particles (RADHEP-2000), UCLA, November 2000. Some typos corrected. Fig.4 caption extended

Cited by in corpus (6)

• The sensitivity of the next generation of lunar Cherenkov observations to UHE neutrinos and cosmic rays
• Prospects for radio detection of ultra-high energy cosmic rays and neutrinos
• Prospects for Lunar Satellite Detection of Radio Pulses from Ultrahigh Energy Neutrinos Interacting with the Moon
• 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
• Prospects for GMRT to Observe Radio Waves from UHE Particles Interacting with the Moon