Improved Estimates for the Sensitivity of the Payload for Ultrahigh Energy Observations (PUEO) to Tau Neutrinos
Open Access
- Author:
- Monteiro, Dylan
- Area of Honors:
- Physics
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Science
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Stephanie Wissel, Thesis Supervisor
Richard Wallace Robinett, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- Neutrino
Astrophysics
High Energy
Simulation
Monte Carlo
Detector Physics - Abstract:
- Ultra-High Energy Neutrinos (UHEN) > EeV can serve as important probes of both astrophysics and particle physics in an unexplored energy scale. Unlike cosmic rays and gamma rays, UHEN can pass through large swatches of space without interaction, carrying unperturbed information from the edge of the observable universe. The Payload for Ultrahigh Energy Observations (PUEO) is a long duration balloon experiment designed to observe UHEN through radio detection. Particle showers caused by UHEN in ice and in Earth’s atmosphere can produce radio signals through geomagnetic emission and Askaryan emission. Geomagnetic emission occurs through the separation of electrons and positrons along the shower due to Earth’s geomagnetic field, while Askaryan emission occurs due to a negative charge excess on the shower front. To detect these signals, PUEO will have two primary detector arrays: the Main Instrument (MI) which consists of 256 horn antennas operating at 300-1200 MHz, and the Low Frequency (LF) Instrument which consists of 8 antennas operating at 50-300 MHz. Simulation studies have been ongoing to estimate the expected performance of the two instruments in their sensitivity to different UHEN signals. Computational efforts have made use of Monte-Carlo event generators in conjunction with detailed models of the various components of the antenna arrays. Results of one of these studies have led to design choices for the LF signal chain electronics. Additionally, a novel data transfer method interfacing two crucial components of the PUEO simulation system was designed and implemented to increase the accuracy of sensitivity predictions for the air shower channel. This method has been used to improve PUEO’s tau neutrino sensitivity estimates as well as compare performance expectations between the two detectors.