The IceCube-Gen2 Neutrino Observatory is proposed to extend the all-flavour energy range of IceCube beyond PeV energies. It will comprise two key components: I) An enlarged 8 km 3 in-ice optical Cherenkov array to measure the continuation of the IceCube astrophysical neutrino flux and improve IceCube's point source sensitivity above ∼ 100 TeV; and II) A very large in-ice radio array with a surface area of about 500 km 2 . Radio waves propagate through ice with a kilometer-long attenuation length, hence a sparse radio array allows us to instrument a huge volume of ice to achieve a sufficient sensitivity to detect neutrinos with energies above tens of PeV. The different signal topologies for neutrino-induced events measured by the optical and in-ice radio detector -the radio detector is mostly sensitive to the cascades produced in the neutrino interaction, while the optical detector can detect long-ranging muon and tau leptons with high accuracy -yield highly complementary information. When detected in coincidence, these signals will allow us to reconstruct the neutrino energy and arrival direction with high fidelity. Furthermore, if events are detected in coincidence with a sufficient rate, they resemble the unique opportunity to study systematic uncertainties and to cross-calibrate both detector components. We present the expected rate of coincidence events for 10 years of operation. Furthermore, we analyzed possible detector optimizations to increase the coincidence rate.
IceCube-Gen2 is a planned extension to the existing IceCube Neutrino Observatory and will provide an order of magnitude increase in the detection rate of cosmic neutrinos by deploying 10,000 sensors in a volume of 8 cubic kilometers. As part of the upcoming IceCube Upgrade, we are developing prototype IceCube-Gen2 sensors to test all components in-situ in preparation for mass production required for IceCube-Gen2. The novel IceCube-Gen2 module will contain up to eighteen 4-inch photomultiplier tubes (PMTs). The signals for each PMT are digitized with a 2-channel, 12-bit ADC (low-and high-gain) at a rate of 60 MSps. In addition, each module contains LED flashers for in-ice calibration, an FPGA for performing in-module local coincidence of PMT signals, and onboard 𝜇SD flash memory for buffering data before it is sent to the surface. In this contribution, we discuss the electronics and data acquisition system design.
The observation of an astrophysical neutrino flux in IceCube and its detection capability to separate between the different neutrino flavors has led IceCube to constraint the flavor content of this flux. IceCube-Gen2 is the planned extension of the current IceCube detector, which will be about 8 times larger than the current instrumented volume. In this work, we study the sensitivity of IceCube-Gen2 to the astrophysical neutrino flavor composition and investigate its tau neutrino identification capabilities. We apply the IceCube analysis on a simulated IceCube-Gen2 dataset that mimics the High Energy Starting Event (HESE) classification. Reconstructions are performed using sensors that have 3 times higher quantum efficiency and isotropic angular acceptance compared to the current IceCube optical modules. We present the projected sensitivity for 10 years of data on constraining the flavor ratio of the astrophysical neutrino flux at Earth by IceCube-Gen2.
Over the past decade, the IceCube Neutrino Observatory has discovered a diffuse astrophysical flux and evidence for the first astrophysical neutrino sources, thus highlighting the utility of neutrinos as a new messenger in astronomy. IceCube-Gen2, proposed to be eight times larger than the current detector, will be able to accelerate new discoveries. In order to reach the target volume necessary, the detector is designed with a sparser string spacing. With twice the interstring distance of IceCube, the angular reconstruction of particle showers in IceCube-Gen2 will benefit from new multi-PMT optical modules, accurate modeling of ice properties and a precise understanding of all available sensor data. In this contribution, we show the achievable angular and energy resolutions for shower events observed in IceCube-Gen2 and their dependencies on sensor efficiencies. Implications on diffuse measurements will also be discussed.
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