The Lunar Cherenkov Technique: From Parkes Onwards

2007/09/03 by C. W. James, C. James, James, C. W. +7 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena #Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena #Neutrino Physics Research #astro-ph

paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.0709.0160

5 pages, 5 figures; Proceedings from 30th ICRC, Merida, Mexico, 2007 (4 pages in proceedings)

arxiv created 2007/09/03 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01

Abstract

The lunar Cherenkov technique, which aims to detect the coherent Cherenkov radiation produced when UHE particles interact in the lunar regolith, was first attempted with the Parkes radio-telescope in 1995, though the theory was not sufficiently developed at this time to calculate a limit on the UHE neutrino flux from the non-observation. Since then, the technique has evolved to include experiments utilising lower frequencies, wider bandwidths, and entire arrays of antenna. We develop a simulation to analyse the full range of experiments, and calculate the UHE neutrino flux limit from the Parkes experiment, including the directional dependence. Our results suggest a methodology for planning future observations, and demonstrate how to utilise all available information on the nature of radio pulses from the Moon for the detection of UHE particles.

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• The sensitivity of the next generation of lunar Cherenkov observations to UHE neutrinos and cosmic rays

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