Workshop Topics

Please send suggestions to Steve Barwick at sbarwick@uci.edu.

Introduction

• Goals of the workshop: what do we want to achieve?

• What are the primary science missions for ICECUBE?
  • Neutrino Astronomy
    • AGNs which emit high energy gamma rays
    • Galactic sources
    • Diffuse AGN emission
  • Neutrino Oscillations at 1 TeV
• What are secondary science missions?
  • WIMP search from sun and earth
  • Neutrino emission from gamma ray bursts
  • Supernova detector and participation in world network
  • charm contribution to prompt muon flux
• New and/or long range ideas
  • Low energy neutrinos from radioactivity in earth
  • proton decay
• How do we prioritize science objectives
  • ICECUBE is best for 100 GeV to 10 TeV energy scales
  • ICECUBE energy response enhanced for TeV-PeV scale cascades
  • Radio detection of Cherenkov may be better for >PeV
  • Super-Kamiokande is best for MeV-GeV energy scales
• What are the detector requirements to achieve each science priority
  • Effective Area vs zenith angle
  • Effective Area vs Energy
  • Angular resolution vs zenith angle
  • Energy resolution and energy threshold

• OM/String architecture
  • Analog signals via optical fiber
  • Analog signals via twisted pair and cable compensation
  • Digital OMs
  • Simplex vs multiplex channels
  • Clustered or Centralized signal processing stations
• Photomultiplier tubes
  • What size?
  • Wavelength shifters
• Electronics
  • VME
  • Modified SNO hardware
  • Waveform digitization
  • Trigger requirements and architecture

• What is presently known, and what do we need to know?
• What is the time scale to answer the important questions?
• Who is going to do the work?
• Ice properties between 1200m and 2400m
• Hole ice optical properties
• Strawman detector
  • Angular resolution
  • up-down rejection
  • Effective area
  • Optimization
• High energy aspects of ICECUBE array
  • Energy calibration
  • Can we really identify double-bang events
  • What is response of the array to 10^20 eV events?
• Low energy response
  • Atmospheric neutrinos as background and potential signal
  • Identification of electron and muon neutrinos
  • How do we calibrate angular sensitivity and energy threshold?
• Technology improvements on reconstruction
  • Individual photon ID
  • Complete waveform recording
  • Increased dynamic range

• String/OM Position calibration
• Energy calibration methods
• Timing calibrations
• Pointing resolution
• Automation of calibration procedures

• Design philosophy: simplicity vs complexity
• Industrialization
  • Fabrication
  • Drilling
  • Deployment
• Logistics at the south pole
• Coordination with new station construction
• Data analysis and archiving
• Integration with existing support structures
  • The National Science Foundation
  • Polar Ice Coring Office
  • Antarctic Support Associates
  • Deep-Ice STC?
  • International Antarctic Observatory?

• SPASE, EAS, and VULCAN air cherenkov arrays
• GASP
• Center for Astrophysics in Antarctica (CARA)

• RICE (Radio detection of neutrino showers)
• New ideas to extend high energy response or enhance low energy sensitivity

• Action items
• Identification of key results we need for proposal

• Memorandum of Understanding
• Who is interesting in doing what
• Resources available
• Personnel and financial commitment
• US vs European time scales

• Preparation of preliminary proposal during next 6 months
• Date and location of the next workshop