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Title: Observation of Radar Echoes from High-Energy Particle Cascades

Journal Article · · Physical Review Letters
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [2];  [1]; ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [3]; ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [4];  [5]; ORCiD logo [6];  [7];  [5]; ORCiD logo [6];  [6]; ORCiD logo [8];  [1]; ORCiD logo [1];  [8]
  1. The Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH (United States)
  2. Vrije Univ., Amsterdam (Netherlands)
  3. Univ. of Kansas, Lawrence, KS (United States); Moscow Engineering Physics Univ., Moscow (Russian Federation)
  4. SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)
  5. National Taiwan Univ., Taipei (Taiwan)
  6. Univ. of Kansas, Lawrence, KS (United States)
  7. Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States)
  8. California Polytechnic State Univ. (CalPoly), San Luis Obispo, CA (United States)

We report here the observation of radar echoes from the ionization trails of high-energy particle cascades. Data were taken at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, where the full electron beam ( ~ 10 9 e - at ~ 10 GeV / e - ) was directed into a plastic target to simulate an ultrahigh-energy neutrino interaction. The target was interrogated with radio waves, and coherent radio reflections from the cascades were detected with properties consistent with theoretical expectations. This is the first definitive observation of radar echoes from high-energy particle cascades, which could lead to a viable neutrino detection technology for energies 10 16 eV .

Research Organization:
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States); Oak Ridge Associated Univ., Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC); European Research Council (ERC)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-76SF00515; SC0014664; 805486; 172922; 14.А12.31.0006; FWO-12L3715N
OSTI ID:
1608339
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1603734
Journal Information:
Physical Review Letters, Vol. 124, Issue 9; ISSN 0031-9007
Publisher:
American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 21 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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