IceCube-Plus: An Ultra-High Energy Neutrino Telescope

Abstract

While the first kilometer-scale neutrino telescope, IceCube, is under construction, alternative plans exist to build even larger detectors that will, however, b e limited by a much higher neutrino energy threshold of 10 PeV or higher rather than 10 to 100 GeV. These future projects detect radio and acoustic pulses as w ell as air showers initiated by ultra-high energy neutrinos. As an alternative, we here propose an expansion of IceCube, using the same strings, placed on a gri d with a spacing of order 500 m. Unlike other proposals, the expanded detector uses methods that are understood and calibrated on atmospheric neutrinos. Atmosp heric neutrinos represent the only background at the energies under consideratio n and is totally negligible. Also, the cost of such a detector is understood. We conclude that supplementing the 81 IceCube strings with a modest number of addi tional strings spaced at large distances can almost double the effective volume of the detector. Doubling the number of strings on a 800 m grid can deliver a d etector that this a factor of 5 larger for horizontal muons at modest cost.

arXiv commentVersion to be published in JCAP

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• Astroparticle Physics with High Energy Neutrinos: from AMANDA to IceCube
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• Mixed Wino Dark Matter: Consequences for Direct, Indirect and Collider Detection
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• Mixed Higgsino Dark Matter from a Large SU(2) Gaugino Mass
• Monochromatic Neutrino Signals from Dark Matter Annihilation
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• Detectable neutrino fluxes due to enhanced cosmic ray densities in the Galactic Center region
• Neutrino Signals from Solar Neutralino Annihilations in Anomaly Mediated Supersymmetry Breaking Model
• Positivity constraints for lepton polarization in neutrino deep inelastic scattering
• High-Energy Gamma Rays and Neutrinos from Nearby Radio Galaxies
• Future neutrino oscillation facilities: physics priorities and open issues
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