IceCube: a km-scale High Energy Neutrino Detector at the
South Pole

Dave Nygren
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Tuesday, May 27, 2003

Abstract:

The existence of ultra-high energy cosmic rays suggests a companion spectrum of ultra-high energy neutrinos may also be present. A measurement of the neutrino spectrum should increase our understanding of the poorly known mechanisms of particle acceleration. The minimum detector size to probe this region appears to be ~1km^3. The surprising optical properties of the deep ice in antarctica make a cherenkov detector feasible, and the means to accomplish this task now appear to be available.