231. |
- Abbasi, R., et al.
(författare)
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Observation of anisotropy in the arrival directions of galactic cosmic rays at multiple angular scales with IceCube
- 2011
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal. - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 740:1, s. 16-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Between 2009 May and 2010 May, the IceCube neutrino detector at the South Pole recorded 32 billion muons generated in air showers produced by cosmic rays with a median energy of 20 TeV. With a data set of this size, it is possible to probe the southern sky for per-mil anisotropy on all angular scales in the arrival direction distribution of cosmic rays. Applying a power spectrum analysis to the relative intensity map of the cosmic ray flux in the southern hemisphere, we show that the arrival direction distribution is not isotropic, but shows significant structure on several angular scales. In addition to previously reported large-scale structure in the form of a strong dipole and quadrupole, the data show small-scale structure on scales between 15 degrees and 30 degrees. The skymap exhibits several localized regions of significant excess and deficit in cosmic ray intensity. The relative intensity of the smaller-scale structures is about a factor of five weaker than that of the dipole and quadrupole structure. The most significant structure, an excess localized at (right ascension alpha = 122 degrees.4 and declination d = -47 degrees.4), extends over at least 20 degrees in right ascension and has a post-trials significance of 5.3 sigma. The origin of this anisotropy is still unknown.
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232. |
- Abbasi, R., et al.
(författare)
-
Search for a diffuse flux of astrophysical muon neutrinos with the IceCube 40-string detector
- 2011
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Ingår i: Physical Review D. - 1550-7998 .- 1550-2368. ; 84:8, s. 082001-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The IceCube Neutrino Observatory is a 1 km(3) detector currently taking data at the South Pole. One of the main strategies used to look for astrophysical neutrinos with IceCube is the search for a diffuse flux of high-energy neutrinos from unresolved sources. A hard energy spectrum of neutrinos from isotropically distributed astrophysical sources could manifest itself as a detectable signal that may be differentiated from the atmospheric neutrino background by spectral measurement. This analysis uses data from the IceCube detector collected in its half completed configuration which operated between April 2008 and May 2009 to search for a diffuse flux of astrophysical muon neutrinos. A total of 12 877 upward-going candidate neutrino events have been selected for this analysis. No evidence for a diffuse flux of astrophysical muon neutrinos was found in the data set leading to a 90% C. L. upper limit on the normalization of an E(-2) astrophysical nu(mu) flux of 8.9 x 10(-9) GeV cm(-2) s(-1) sr(-1). The analysis is sensitive in the energy range between 35 TeV and 7 PeV. The 12 877 candidate neutrino events are consistent with atmospheric muon neutrinos measured from 332 GeV to 84 TeV and no evidence for a prompt component to the atmospheric neutrino spectrum is found.
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233. |
- Abbasi, R., et al.
(författare)
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Search for a Lorentz-violating sidereal signal with atmospheric neutrinos in IceCube
- 2010
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Ingår i: Physical Review D - Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology. - 1550-7998. ; 82, s. 112003-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A search for sidereal modulation in the flux of atmospheric muon neutrinos in IceCube was performed. Such a signal could be an indication of Lorentz-violating physics. Neutrino oscillation models, derivable from extensions to the standard model, allow for neutrino oscillations that depend on the neutrino's direction of propagation. No such direction-dependent variation was found. A discrete Fourier transform method was used to constrain the Lorentz and CPT-violating coefficients in one of these models. Because of the unique high energy reach of IceCube, it was possible to improve constraints on certain Lorentz-violating oscillations by 3 orders of magnitude with respect to limits set by other experiments.
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234. |
- Abbasi, R., et al.
(författare)
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Calibration and characterization of the IceCube photomultiplier tube
- 2010
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Ingår i: Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A. - : Elsevier BV. - 0168-9002 .- 1872-9576. ; 618:1-3, s. 139-152
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Over 5000 PMTs are being deployed at the South Pole to compose the IceCube neutrino observatory. Many are placed deep in the ice to detect Cherenkov light emitted by the products of high-energy neutrino interactions, and others are frozen into tanks on the surface to detect particles from atmospheric cosmic ray showers. IceCube is using the 10-in. diameter R7081-02 made by Hamamatsu Photonics. This paper describes the laboratory characterization and calibration of these PMTs before deployment. PMTs were illuminated with pulses ranging from single photons to saturation level. Parameterizations are given for the single photoelectron charge spectrum and the saturation behavior. Time resolution, late pulses and afterpulses are characterized. Because the PMTs are relatively large, the cathode sensitivity uniformity was measured. The absolute photon detection efficiency was calibrated using Rayleigh-scattered photons from a nitrogen laser. Measured characteristics are discussed in the context of their relevance to IceCube event reconstruction and simulation efforts. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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235. |
- Abbasi, R., et al.
(författare)
-
Measurement of the anisotropy of cosmic-ray arrival directions with icecube
- 2010
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Ingår i: The Astrophysical Journal Letters. - 2041-8205. ; 718, s. L194-L198
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We report the first observation of an anisotropy in the arrival direction of cosmic rays with energies in the multi-TeV region in the Southern sky using data from the IceCube detector. Between 2007 June and 2008 March, the partially deployed IceCube detector was operated in a configuration with 1320 digital optical sensors distributed over 22 strings at depths between 1450 and 2450 m inside the Antarctic ice. IceCube is a neutrino detector, but the data are dominated by a large background of cosmic-ray muons. Therefore, the background data are suitable for high-statistics studies of cosmic rays in the southern sky. The data include 4.3 billion muons produced by downward-going cosmic-ray interactions in the atmosphere; these events were reconstructed with a median angular resolution of 3 degrees and a median energy of similar to 20 TeV. Their arrival direction distribution exhibits an anisotropy in right ascension with a first-harmonic amplitude of (6.4 +/- 0.2 stat. +/- 0.8 syst.) x 10(-4).
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236. |
- Abbasi, R., et al.
(författare)
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Search for relativistic magnetic monopoles with the AMANDA-II neutrino telescope
- 2010
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Ingår i: European Physical Journal C. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1434-6044 .- 1434-6052. ; 69:3-4, s. 361-378
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present the search for Cherenkov signatures from relativistic magnetic monopoles in data taken with the AMANDA-II detector, a neutrino telescope deployed in the Antarctic ice cap at the Geographic South Pole. The non-observation of a monopole signal in data collected during the year 2000 improves present experimental limits on the flux of relativistic magnetic monopoles: Our flux limit varies between 3.8x10(-17) cm(-2) s(-1) sr(-1) (for monopoles moving at the vacuum speed of light) and 8.8x10(-16) cm(-2) s(-1) sr(-1) (for monopoles moving at a speed beta=v/c=0.76, just above the Cherenkov threshold in ice). These limits apply to monopoles that are energetic enough to penetrate the Earth and enter the detector from below the horizon. The limit obtained for monopoles reaching the detector from above the horizon is less stringent by roughly an order of magnitude, due to the much larger background from down-going atmospheric muons. This looser limit is however valid for a larger class of magnetic monopoles, since the monopoles are not required to pass through the Earth.
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237. |
- Abbasi, R., et al.
(författare)
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Limits on a muon flux from Kaluza-Klein dark matter annihilations in the Sun from the IceCube 22-string detector
- 2010
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Ingår i: Physical Review D. - 1550-7998 .- 1550-2368. ; 81:5, s. 057101-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A search for muon neutrinos from Kaluza-Klein dark matter annihilations in the Sun has been performed with the 22-string configuration of the IceCube neutrino detector using data collected in 104.3 days of live time in 2007. No excess over the expected atmospheric background has been observed. Upper limits have been obtained on the annihilation rate of captured lightest Kaluza-Klein particle (LKP) WIMPs in the Sun and converted to limits on the LKP-proton cross sections for LKP masses in the range 250-3000 GeV. These results are the most stringent limits to date on LKP annihilation in the Sun.
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238. |
- Abbasi, R., et al.
(författare)
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Measurement of sound speed vs. depth in South Pole ice for neutrino astronomy
- 2010
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Ingår i: Astroparticle physics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0927-6505 .- 1873-2852. ; 33:5-6, s. 277-286
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We have measured the speed of both pressure waves and shear waves as a function of depth between 80 and 500 m depth in South Pole ice with better than 1% precision. The measurements were made using the South Pole Acoustic Test Setup (SPATS), an array of transmitters and sensors deployed in the ice at the South Pole in order to measure the acoustic properties relevant to acoustic detection of astrophysical neutrinos. The transmitters and sensors use piezoceramics operating at similar to 5-25 kHz. Between 200 m and 500 m depth, the measured profile is consistent with zero variation of the sound speed with depth, resulting in zero refraction, for both pressure and shear waves. We also performed a complementary study featuring an explosive signal propagating vertically from 50 to 2250 m depth, from which we determined a value for the pressure wave speed consistent with that determined for shallower depths, higher frequencies, and horizontal propagation with the SPATS sensors. The sound speed profile presented here can be used to achieve good acoustic source position and emission time reconstruction in general, and neutrino direction and energy reconstruction in particular. The reconstructed quantities could also help separate neutrino signals from background. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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239. |
- Abbasi, R., et al.
(författare)
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The energy spectrum of atmospheric neutrinos between 2 and 200 TeV with the AMANDA-II detector
- 2010
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Ingår i: Astroparticle physics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0927-6505 .- 1873-2852. ; 34:1, s. 48-58
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The muon and anti-muon neutrino energy spectrum is determined from 2000-2003 AMANDA telescope data using regularised unfolding. This is the first measurement of atmospheric neutrinos in the energy range 2-200 TeV. The result is compared to different atmospheric neutrino models and it is compatible with the atmospheric neutrinos from pion and kaon decays. No significant contribution from charm had-ron decays or extraterrestrial neutrinos is detected. The capabilities to improve the measurement of the neutrino spectrum with the successor experiment IceCube are discussed.
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240. |
- Abbasi, R., et al.
(författare)
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Measurement of acoustic attenuation in South Pole ice
- 2011
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Ingår i: Astroparticle physics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0927-6505 .- 1873-2852. ; 34:6, s. 382-393
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Using the South Pole Acoustic Test Setup (SPATS) and a retrievable transmitter deployed in holes drilled for the IceCube experiment, we have measured the attenuation of acoustic signals by South Pole ice at depths between 190 m and 500 m. Three data sets, using different acoustic sources, have been analyzed and give consistent results. The method with the smallest systematic uncertainties yields an amplitude attenuation coefficient alpha = 3.20 +/- 0.57 km(-1) between 10 and 30 kHz, considerably larger than previous theoretical estimates. Expressed as an attenuation length, the analyses give a consistent result for lambda equivalent to 1/alpha of similar to 300 m with 20% uncertainty. No significant depth or frequency dependence has been found.
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