Mainz 2014 – scientific programme
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T: Fachverband Teilchenphysik
T 78: Experimentelle Methoden der Astroteilchenphysik 3
T 78.6: Talk
Wednesday, March 26, 2014, 18:05–18:20, P7
Study of laser-induced thermoacoustic signals in the context of next-generation neutrino telescopes — •Martin Rongen, Dirk Heinen, Larissa Paul, Christopher Wiebusch, and Simon Zierke for the IceCube collaboration — III. Physikalisches Institut, RWTH Aachen, D-52056 Aachen
A goal for next-generation neutrino telescopes is the search for cosmogenic neutrinos in the extremely high energy region as expected from the GZK effect. Event rates are lower than one event per km3 and year and therefore a detector volume more than one order of magnitude larger than IceCube is desirable. A possible approach to achieve such an increase in a cost-effective way is the acoustic detection of neutrinos, based on the principle of thermoacoustic signal generation by neutrino-induced hadronic cascades. The Aachen Acoustic Laboratory provides the means to investigate the thermoacoustic effect in a controlled environment. It consists of a cooling container in which a large volume of bubble-free clear ice(∼ 2.5m3) can be produced. Thermoacoustic signals are generated by a pulsed Nd:YAG laser with an energy of up to 50mJ/pulse. The acoustic signals are recorded by an array of 19 piezo-based sensors embedded in the ice. The setup has recently been upgraded with a new light injection system and to allow for minimum temperatures of −50∘C. This talk presents the status of the investigations.