Seminars and Journal Clubs
Scattering GHz Radio Waves from Ice Targets at the Telescope Array ELS Facility
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Europe/Brussels
Cyclotron
Cyclotron
Description
In a recent paper my colleagues and I have proposed RADAR detection of
high-energy neutrino-induced EM cascades as a possible means to achieve
large detection volumes in the energy window above 1 PeV. The calculations
in the article are based on very simplistic models of plasma formation and
RADAR cross sections and further relied on observations of conductivity
changes in ionized ice carried out decades earlier and using different
techniques to supply the unknown plasma lifetime. During January 2015, we
were granted access to the ELS facility maintained by the Telescope Array
Collaboration as a means to calibrate the fluorescence detectors. This
LINAC produces 40 MeV bunches with up to 1E9 electrons per bunch. An ice
target was placed in the beam and illuminated by approx. 1 Watt of CW
radiofrequency radiation between 1.5 and 3 GHz. Signals from two receive
antennas were digitized and are being analyzed for indications of dynamic
scattering from ionization in the ELS beam.