| 1. |
- Abbasi, R., et al.
(författare)
-
All-particle cosmic ray energy spectrum measured with 26 IceTop stations
- 2013
-
Ingår i: Astroparticle physics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0927-6505 .- 1873-2852. ; 44, s. 40-58
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We report on a measurement of the cosmic ray energy spectrum with the IceTop air shower array, the surface component of the IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the South Pole. The data used in this analysis were taken between June and October, 2007, with 26 surface stations operational at that time, corresponding to about one third of the final array. The fiducial area used in this analysis was 0.122 km(2). The analysis investigated the energy spectrum from 1 to 100 PeV measured for three different zenith angle ranges between 0 degrees and 46 degrees. Because of the isotropy of cosmic rays in this energy range the spectra from all zenith angle intervals have to agree. The cosmic-ray energy spectrum was determined under different assumptions on the primary mass composition. Good agreement of spectra in the three zenith angle ranges was found for the assumption of pure proton and a simple two-component model. For zenith angles theta < 30 degrees, where the mass dependence is smallest, the knee in the cosmic ray energy spectrum was observed at about 4 PeV, with a spectral index above the knee of about -3.1. Moreover, an indication of a flattening of the spectrum above 22 PeV was observed.
|
|
| 2. |
- Aartsen, M. G., et al.
(författare)
-
South Pole glacial climate reconstruction from multi-borehole laser particulate stratigraphy
- 2013
-
Ingår i: Journal of Glaciology. - 0022-1430 .- 1727-5652. ; 59:218, s. 1117-1128
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The IceCube Neutrino Observatory and its prototype, AMANDA, were built in South Pole ice, using powerful hot-water drills to cleanly bore >100 holes to depths up to 2500 m. The construction of these particle physics detectors provided a unique opportunity to examine the deep ice sheet using a variety of novel techniques. We made high-resolution particulate profiles with a laser dust logger in eight of the boreholes during detector commissioning between 2004 and 2010. The South Pole laser logs are among the most clearly resolved measurements of Antarctic dust strata during the last glacial period and can be used to reconstruct paleoclimate records in exceptional detail. Here we use manual and algorithmic matching to synthesize our South Pole measurements with ice-core and logging data from Dome C, East Antarctica. We derive impurity concentration, precision chronology, annual-layer thickness, local spatial variability, and identify several widespread volcanic ash depositions useful for dating. We also examine the interval around similar to 74 ka recently isolated with radiometric dating to bracket the Toba (Sumatra) supereruption.
|
|
| 3. |
- Aartsen, M. G., et al.
(författare)
-
Evidence for High-Energy Extraterrestrial Neutrinos at the IceCube Detector
- 2013
-
Ingår i: Science. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 0036-8075 .- 1095-9203. ; 342:6161, s. 947-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We report on results of an all-sky search for high-energy neutrino events interacting within the IceCube neutrino detector conducted between May 2010 and May 2012. The search follows up on the previous detection of two PeV neutrino events, with improved sensitivity and extended energy coverage down to about 30 TeV. Twenty-six additional events were observed, substantially more than expected from atmospheric backgrounds. Combined, both searches reject a purely atmospheric origin for the 28 events at the 4 sigma level. These 28 events, which include the highest energy neutrinos ever observed, have flavors, directions, and energies inconsistent with those expected from the atmospheric muon and neutrino backgrounds. These properties are, however, consistent with generic predictions for an additional component of extraterrestrial origin.
|
|
| 4. |
- Aartsen, M. G., et al.
(författare)
-
First Observation of PeV-Energy Neutrinos with IceCube
- 2013
-
Ingår i: Physical Review Letters. - 0031-9007 .- 1079-7114. ; 111:2, s. 021103-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We report on the observation of two neutrino-induced events which have an estimated deposited energy in the IceCube detector of 1.04 +/- 0.16 and 1.14 +/- 0.17 PeV, respectively, the highest neutrino energies observed so far. These events are consistent with fully contained particle showers induced by neutral-current nu(e,mu,tau) ((nu) over bar (e,mu,tau)) or charged-current nu(e) ((nu) over bar (e)) interactions within the IceCube detector. The events were discovered in a search for ultrahigh energy neutrinos using data corresponding to 615.9 days effective live time. The expected number of atmospheric background is 0.082 +/- 0.004(stat)(-0.057)(+0.041)(syst). The probability of observing two or more candidate events under the atmospheric background-only hypothesis is 2.9 x 10(-3) (2.8 sigma) taking into account the uncertainty on the expected number of background events. These two events could be a first indication of an astrophysical neutrino flux; the moderate significance, however, does not permit a definitive conclusion at this time.
|
|
| 5. |
- Aartsen, M. G., et al.
(författare)
-
IceCube search for dark matter annihilation in nearby galaxies and galaxy clusters
- 2013
-
Ingår i: Physical Review D. - 1550-7998 .- 1550-2368. ; 88:12
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present the results of a first search for self-annihilating dark matter in nearby galaxies and galaxy clusters using a sample of high-energy neutrinos acquired in 339.8 days of live time during 2009/10 with the IceCube neutrino observatory in its 59-string configuration. The targets of interest include the Virgo and Coma galaxy clusters, the Andromeda galaxy, and several dwarf galaxies. We obtain upper limits on the cross section as a function of the weakly interacting massive particle mass between 300 GeV and 100 TeV for the annihilation into b (b) over bar, W+(W) over bar (-), tau(+)tau(-), mu(+)mu(-) , and nu(nu) over bar. A limit derived for the Virgo cluster, when assuming a large effect from subhalos, challenges the weakly interacting massive particle interpretation of a recently observed GeV positron excess in cosmic rays.
|
|
| 6. |
- Aartsen, M. G., et al.
(författare)
-
Measurement of Atmospheric Neutrino Oscillations with IceCube
- 2013
-
Ingår i: Physical Review Letters. - 0031-9007 .- 1079-7114. ; 111:8, s. 081801-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present the first statistically significant detection of neutrino oscillations in the high-energy regime (> 20 GeV) from an analysis of IceCube Neutrino Observatory data collected in 2010 and 2011. This measurement is made possible by the low-energy threshold of the DeepCore detector (similar to 20 GeV) and benefits from the use of the IceCube detector as a veto against cosmic-ray-induced muon background. The oscillation signal was detected within a low-energy muon neutrino sample (20-100 GeV) extracted from data collected by DeepCore. A high-energy muon neutrino sample (100 GeV-10 TeV) was extracted from IceCube data to constrain systematic uncertainties. The disappearance of low-energy upward-going muon neutrinos was observed, and the nonoscillation hypothesis is rejected with more than 5 sigma significance. In a two-neutrino flavor formalism, our data are best described by the atmospheric neutrino oscillation parameters vertical bar Delta m(32)(2)vertical bar = (2.3(-0.5)(+0.6)) x 10(-3) eV(2) and sin(2) (2 theta(23)) > 0.93, and maximum mixing is favored.
|
|
| 7. |
- Aartsen, M. G., et al.
(författare)
-
Measurement of the Atmospheric nu(e) Flux in IceCube
- 2013
-
Ingår i: Physical Review Letters. - 0031-9007 .- 1079-7114. ; 110:15, s. 151105-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We report the first measurement of the atmospheric electron neutrino flux in the energy range between approximately 80 GeV and 6 TeV, using data recorded during the first year of operation of IceCube's DeepCore low-energy extension. Techniques to identify neutrinos interacting within the DeepCore volume and veto muons originating outside the detector are demonstrated. A sample of 1029 events is observed in 281 days of data, of which 496 +/- 66(stat) +/- 88(syst) are estimated to be cascade events, including both electron neutrino and neutral current events. The rest of the sample includes residual backgrounds due to atmospheric muons and charged current interactions of atmospheric muon neutrinos. The flux of the atmospheric electron neutrinos is consistent with models of atmospheric neutrinos in this energy range. This constitutes the first observation of electron neutrinos and neutral current interactions in a very large volume neutrino telescope optimized for the TeV energy range.
|
|
| 8. |
- Aartsen, M. G., et al.
(författare)
-
Measurement of the cosmic ray energy spectrum with IceTop-73
- 2013
-
Ingår i: Physical Review D. - 1550-7998 .- 1550-2368. ; 88:4, s. 042004-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We report on the measurement of the all-particle cosmic ray energy spectrum with the IceTop air shower array in the energy range from 1.58 PeV to 1.26 EeV. The IceTop air shower array is the surface component of the IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the geographical South Pole. The analysis was performed using only information from IceTop. The data used in this work were taken from June 1, 2010 to May 13, 2011. During that period the IceTop array consisted of 73 stations, compared to 81 in its final configuration. The measured spectrum exhibits a clear deviation from a single power law above the knee around 4 PeV and below 1 EeV. We observe spectral hardening around 18 PeV and steepening around 130 PeV.
|
|
| 9. |
- Aartsen, M. G., et al.
(författare)
-
Search for Dark Matter Annihilations in the Sun with the 79-String IceCube Detector
- 2013
-
Ingår i: Physical Review Letters. - 0031-9007 .- 1079-7114. ; 110:13, s. 131302-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We have performed a search for muon neutrinos from dark matter annihilation in the center of the Sun with the 79-string configuration of the IceCube neutrino telescope. For the first time, the DeepCore subarray is included in the analysis, lowering the energy threshold and extending the search to the austral summer. The 317 days of data collected between June 2010 and May 2011 are consistent with the expected background from atmospheric muons and neutrinos. Upper limits are set on the dark matter annihilation rate, with conversions to limits on spin-dependent and spin-independent scattering cross sections of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) on protons, for WIMP masses in the range 20-5000 GeV=c(2). These are the most stringent spin-dependent WIMP-proton cross section limits to date above 35 GeV=c(2) for most WIMP models.
|
|
| 10. |
- Abbasi, R., et al.
(författare)
-
An improved method for measuring muon energy using the truncated mean of dE/dx
- 2013
-
Ingår i: Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A. - : Elsevier BV. - 0168-9002 .- 1872-9576. ; 703, s. 190-198
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The measurement of muon energy is critical for many analyses in large Cherenkov detectors, particularly those that involve separating extraterrestrial neutrinos from the atmospheric neutrino background. Muon energy has traditionally been determined by measuring the specific energy loss (dE/dx) along the muon's path and relating the dE/dx to the muon energy. Because high-energy muons (Eμ>1TeV) lose energy randomly, the spread in dE/dx values is quite large, leading to a typical energy resolution of 0.29 in log10(Eμ) for a muon observed over a 1 km path length in the IceCube detector. In this paper, we present an improved method that uses a truncated mean and other techniques to determine the muon energy. The muon track is divided into separate segments with individual dE/dx values. The elimination of segments with the highest dE/dx results in an overall dE/dx that is more closely correlated to the muon energy. This method results in an energy resolution of 0.22 in log10(Eμ), which gives a 26% improvement. This technique is applicable to any large water or ice detector and potentially to large scintillator or liquid argon detectors.
|
|
