Performance of two Askaryan Radio Array stations and first results in the search for ultrahigh energy neutrinos

Authors

P. Allison, Ohio State University
R. Bard, University of Maryland at College Park
J. J. Beatty, Ohio State University
D. Z. Besson, University of Kansas
C. Bora, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
C.-C. Chen, National Taiwan University
C.-H. Chen, National Taiwan University
P. Chen, National Taiwan University
A. Christenson, University of Wisconsin-Madison
A. Connolly, Ohio State University
J. Davies, University College London
M. Duvernois, University of Wisconsin-Madison
B. Fox, University of Hawaii
R. Gaior, Chiba University
P. W. Gorham, University of Hawaii
K. Hanson, Université libre de Bruxelles
J. Haugen, University of Wisconsin-Madison
B. Hill, University of Hawaii
K. D. Hoffman, University of Maryland at College Park
E. Hong, Ohio State University
S.-Y. Hsu, National Taiwan University
L. Hu, National Taiwan University
J.-J. Huang, National Taiwan University
M.-H. A. Huang, National Taiwan University
A. Ishihara, Chiba University
A. Karle, University of Wisconsin-Madison
J. L. Kelley, University of Wisconsin-Madison
D. Kennedy, University of Kansas
Ilya Kravchenko, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow
T. Kuwabara, Chiba University
H. Landsman, Weizmann Institute of Science
A. Laundrie, University of Wisconsin - Madison
C.-J. Li, National Taiwan University
T. C. Liu, National Taiwan University
M.-Y. Lu, National Taiwan University
L. Macchiarulo, University of Hawaii
K. Mase, Chiba University
T. Meures, Université libre de Bruxelles
R. Meyhandan, University of Hawaii
C. Miki, University of Hawaii
R. Morse, University of Hawaii
J. Nam, National Taiwan University
R. J. Nichol, University College London
G. Nir, Weizmann Institute of Science
A. Novikov, National Research Nuclear University
A. O’Murchadha, Université libre de Bruxelles
C. Pfendner, The Ohio State University
Kenneth L. Ratzlaff, University of KansasFollow
M. Relich, Chiba University
M. Richman, University of Maryland at College Park
L. Ritter, University of Hawaii
B. Rotter, University of Hawaii
P. Sandstrom, University of Wisconsin-Madison
P. Schellin, The Ohio State University
A. Shultz, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
D. Seckel, University of Delaware
Y.-S. Shiao, National Taiwan University
J. Stockham, University of Kansas
M. Stockham, University of Kansas
J. Touart, University of Maryland at College Park
G. S. Varner, University of Hawaii
M.-Z. Wang, National Taiwan University
S.-H. Wang, National Taiwan University
Y. Yang, Université libre de Bruxelles
S. Yoshida, Chiba University
R. Young, University of Kansas

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

2016

Citation

PHYSICAL REVIEW D 93, 082003 (2016)

Comments

© 2016 American Physical Society

Abstract

Ultrahigh energy neutrinos are interesting messenger particles since, if detected, they can transmit exclusive information about ultrahigh energy processes in the Universe. These particles, with energies above 10¹⁶ eV, interact very rarely. Therefore, detectors that instrument several gigatons of matter are needed to discover them. The ARA detector is currently being constructed at the South Pole. It is designed to use the Askaryan effect, the emission of radio waves from neutrino-induced cascades in the South Pole ice, to detect neutrino interactions at very high energies. With antennas distributed among 37 widely separated stations in the ice, such interactions can be observed in a volume of several hundred cubic kilometers. Currently three deep ARA stations are deployed in the ice, of which two have been taking data since the beginning of 2013. In this article, the ARA detector “as built” and calibrations are described. Data reduction methods used to distinguish the rare radio signals from overwhelming backgrounds of thermal and anthropogenic origin are presented. Using data from only two stations over a short exposure time of 10 months, a neutrino flux limit of 1.5 × 10⁻⁶ GeV/cm²/s/sr is calculated for a particle energy of 10¹⁸ eV, which offers promise for the full ARA detector.