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Horizontally Polarized Antennas for the Radio Neutrino Observatory in Greenland

ORAL

Abstract

Ultra-high energy (UHE) neutrinos (E > 10 PeV) are ideal messengers for the most distant objects in the universe as they travel nearly unimpeded across the cosmos and point directly to their source. However, because they are weakly interacting, they are challenging to detect. At the highest energies, neutrino detectors must monitor extraordinarily large volumes to counter the low interaction cross section and flux that falls steeply with energy. Radio neutrino detectors, taking advantage of the Askaryan effect which produces coherent radio emission, can be massive with sparse detectors due to the long attenuation length of radio waves. The Radio Neutrino Observatory in Greenland (RNO-G) is currently being built at the apex of the ice sheet in Greenland to detect the first UHE neutrinos. It will have 35 stations with both surface and deep components. To reconstruct the energy and direction of neutrinos detected by RNO-G, it must be able to obtain the signal polarization which it can do via the deep components using its horizontally and vertically polarized antennas. I will discuss the design and performance of its horizontally polarized antennas.

Presenters

  • Bryan Hendricks

    Pennsylvania State University

Authors

  • Bryan Hendricks

    Pennsylvania State University