Bonn 2010 – scientific programme

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T: Fachverband Teilchenphysik

T 5: Hauptvorträge V

T 5.2: Invited Talk

Friday, March 19, 2010, 09:10–09:50, HG Aula

High energy neutrino astrophysics — •Elisa Bernardini — DESY, Platanenallee 6, 15738 Zeuthen, Germany

The discovery of high energy cosmic neutrinos aims at addressing the question of the origin of cosmic rays, a one century-old unsolved mystery. The detection of solar and supernova neutrinos, acknowledged in 2002 by a Nobel Prize, permitted to observe the center of stars. On the other hand, high-energy neutrino telescopes are just now reaching the minimum scale required to detect fluxes of astrophysical origin. This will permit us to test the sky beyond the background of atmospheric neutrinos and investigate the sources of cosmic rays with a uniquely hadronic probe. Moreover, ultra-high energy neutrino astronomy could ultimately permit us to explore the highest energy processes in the Universe.

In this talk a review of the field of neutrino astronomy and astrophysics will be given. Various candidate astrophysical sources of neutrinos, ranging from low energy to high energy, will be examined. The physics goals of the present and future generation of neutrino detectors and the state of the art of experimental neutrino astronomy will be outlined.