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Title: Salt Neutrino Detector for Ultrahigh-Energy Neutrinos

Journal Article · · Physics of Atomic Nuclei
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1134/1.1825527· OSTI ID:20692682
;  [1];  [2]; ; ; ;  [3]
  1. Tokyo Metropolitan University, Department of Physics, Tokyo (Japan)
  2. Tokyo Metropolitan University, Department of Engineering, Tokyo (Japan)
  3. Seikei University, Department of Engineering, Tokyo (Japan)

Rock salt and limestone are studied to determine their suitability for use as a radio-wave transmission medium in an ultrahigh energy (UHE) cosmic neutrino detector. A sensible radio wave would be emitted by the coherent Cherenkov radiation from negative excess charges inside an electromagnetic shower upon interaction of a UHE neutrino in a high-density medium (Askar'yan effect). If the attenuation length for the radio wave in the material is large, a relatively small number of radio-wave sensors could detect the interaction occurring in the massive material. We measured the complex permittivity of the rock salt and limestone by the perturbed cavity resonator method at 9.4 and 1 GHz to good precision. We obtained new results of measurements at the frequency at 1.0 GHz. The measured value of the radio-wave attenuation length of synthetic rock salt samples is 1080 m. The samples from the Hockley salt mine in the United States show attenuation length of 180 m at 1 GHz, and then we estimate it by extrapolation to be as long as 900 m at 200 MHz. The results show that there is a possibility of utilizing natural massive deposits of rock salt for a UHE neutrino detector. A salt neutrino detector with a size of 2 x 2 x 2 km would detect 10 UHE neutrino/yr generated through the GZK process.

OSTI ID:
20692682
Journal Information:
Physics of Atomic Nuclei, Vol. 67, Issue 11; Other Information: Translated from Yadernaya Fizika, ISSN 0044-0027, 67, 2071-2074 (No. 11, 2004); DOI: 10.1134/1.1825527; (c) 2004 MAIK ''Nauka / Interperiodica''; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); TN:; ISSN 1063-7788
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English