First upper limits on the radar cross section of cosmic-ray induced extensive air showers

Abbasi, Rasha; Abe, M.; Othman, M. Abou Bakr; Abu‐Zayyad, T.; Allen, M.; Anderson, R. J.; Azuma, R.; Barcikowski, E.; Belz, J. W.; Bergman, D. R.; Besson, D.; Blake, S. A.; Byrne, M.; Cady, R.; Chae, M. J.; Cheon, B. G.; Chiba, J.; Chikawa, M.; Cho, W. R.; Farhang‐Boroujeny, Behrouz; Fujii, Toshihiro; Fukushima, M.; Gillman, W.H.; Goto, Toru; Hanlon, W.; Hanson, Jordan C.; Hayashi, Y.; Hayashida, N.; Hibino, K.; Honda, K.; Ikeda, D.; Inoue, N.; Ishii, Takaaki; Ishimori, R.; Ito, Hirotaka; Ivanov, D.; Jayanthmurthy, C.; Jui, C.; Kadota, K.; Kakimoto, F.; Kalashev, O.; Kasahara, K.; Kawai, H.; Kawakami, S.; Kawana, S.; Kawata, K.; Kido, E.; Kim, H. B.; Kim, J. H.; Kitamura, S.; Kitamura, Yoshihisa; Kunwar, S.; Kuzmin, V.; Kwon, Y. J.; Lan, J.; Lim, S. I.; Lundquist, Jon Paul; Machida, K.; Martens, K.; Matsuda, Takeshi; Matsuyama, T.; Matthews, J. N.; Minamino, M.; Mukai, K.; Myers, I.; Nagasawa, K.; Nagataki, Shigehiro; Nakamura, Tôru; Nonaka, T.; Nozato, A.; Ogio, S.; Ogura, J.; Ohnishi, M.; Ohoka, H.; Oki, K.; Okuda, Takeshi; Ono, M.; Oshima, A.; Ozawa, S.; Park, I. H.; Prohira, S.; Пширков, М. С.; RezazadehReyhani, Ahmad; Rodriguez, D.; Рубцов, Г.; Ryu, Dongsu; Sagawa, H.; Sakurai, N.; Sampson, Anthony; Scott, L. M.; Schurig, David; Shah, P. D.; Shibata, F.; Shibata, Tadashi; Shimodaira, Hidetoshi; Shin, B. K.; Smith, J. D.; Sokolsky, P.; Springer, R. W.; Stokes, B. T.; Stratton, S. R.; Stroman, T. A.; Suzawa, T.; Takai, H.; Takamura, M.; Takeda, M.; Takeishi, R.; Taketa, A.; Takita, M.; Tameda, Y.; Tanaka, Hidekazu; Tanaka, K.; Tanaka, M.; Thomas, S. B.; Thomson, G. B.; Tinyakov, P.; Tkachev, I.; Tokuno, H.; Tomida, T.; Troitsky, S.; Tsunesada, Y.; Tsutsumi, K.; Uchihori, Y.; Udo, S.; Urban, Federico R.; Vasiloff, G.; Venkatesh, Suresh; Wong, Tony; Yamane, R.; Yamaoka, H.; Yamazaki, K.; Yang, J.; Yashiro, K.; Yoneda, Y.; Yoshida, Shigeru; Yoshii, H.; Zollinger, R.; Zundel, Z.

doi:10.1016/j.astropartphys.2016.11.006

Cited by 16 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Ultimately, those signals were determined to be from meteors, which ionize similar, far denser trails in the upper atmosphere. After several experimental efforts (including the Telescope Array RAdar (TARA)) failed to detect UHECR via radar [18][19][20][21], and theoretical work explaining the lack of observed reflections [22,23], the in-air method was finally deemed not viable due to short ionization lifetimes in the atmosphere at EAS altitudes, and damping from collisions between ionized electrons and neutral air molecules (an issue first raised by Eckersley in 1941 [17], though largely subsequently ignored. )…”

Section: History Theory and Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Radar Echo Telescope for Cosmic Rays: Pathfinder Experiment for a Next-Generation Neutrino Observatory

Prohira,

de Vries,

Allison

et al. 2021

Preprint

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The Radar Echo Telescope for Cosmic Rays (RET-CR) is a recently initiated experiment designed to detect the englacial cascade of a cosmic-ray initiated air shower via in-ice radar, toward the goal of a full-scale, nextgeneration experiment to detect ultra high energy neutrinos in polar ice. For cosmic rays with a primary energy greater than 10 PeV, roughly 10% of an air-shower's energy reaches the surface of a high elevation ice-sheet ( 2 km) concentrated into a radius of roughly 10 cm. This penetrating shower core creates an in-ice cascade many orders of magnitude more dense than the preceding in-air cascade. This dense cascade can be detected via the radar echo technique, where transmitted radio is reflected from the ionization deposit left in the wake of the cascade. RET-CR will test the radar echo method in nature, with the in-ice cascade of a cosmic-ray initiated air-shower serving as a test beam. We present the projected event rate and sensitivity based upon a three part simulation using CORSIKA, GEANT4, and RadioScatter. RET-CR expects ∼1 radar echo event per day.

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Section: History Theory and Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Radar Echo Telescope for Cosmic Rays: Pathfinder Experiment for a Next-Generation Neutrino Observatory

Prohira,

de Vries,

Allison

et al. 2021

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Furthermore, doubt was cast upon the method's feasibility due to the suppression of the return signal by collisional damping effects. The method was revived again in the early 2000's by theoretical works [12] followed by experiment [13]. These efforts came to an end once limits were set on the effective scattering cross-section of an in-air particle cascade by the TARA collaboration, as well as theoretical advances, leading to the conclusion that the technique not feasible to probe air showers [14].…”

Section: From Beam Test To In-nature Neutrino Detectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Radar Echo Telescope for Neutrinos (RET-N)

Vries¹,

Prohira²,

Allison³

et al. 2021

Proceedings of 37th International Cosmic Ray Conference — PoS(ICRC2021)

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We present the Radar Echo Telescope for Neutrinos (RET-N). RET-N focuses on the detection of the cosmic neutrino flux at >PeV energies by means of the radar detection technique. This method aims to bridge the energy gap between the diffuse neutrino flux detected by IceCube up to a few PeV and the sought for cosmogenic neutrinos at EeV energies by the in-ice Askaryan detectors, as well as the air-shower radio detectors. The radar echo method is based on the detection the ionization trail in the wake of a high-energy neutrino-induced particle cascade in ice. This technique, recently validated in a beam test (T576 at SLAC) is also the basis for the RET-N pathfinder experiment, RET-CR, which is currently under development. Based on the T-576 results, we show that the radar echo method leads to very promising sensitivities to detect cosmic neutrinos in the PeV-EeV region and above. We present the RET-N project and the results of our sensitivity studies.

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“…It was theorized that these echoes could be from radar reflecting from the charged tracks left behind as a cosmic ray produces a cascade in the atmosphere. It turns out that these particular echoes were actually caused by meteors, but the idea took hold, and multiple experimental efforts to date have searched for radar reflections from UHE cosmic rays [9][10][11][12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toward High Energy Neutrino Detection with the Radar Echo Telescope for Cosmic Rays (RET-CR)

Prohira¹,

Vries²,

Allison³

et al. 2021

Proceedings of 37th International Cosmic Ray Conference — PoS(ICRC2021)

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Radar Echo Telescope for Cosmic Rays (RET-CR) is a pathfinder experiment for the Radar Echo Telescope for Neutrinos (RET-N), a next-generation in-ice detection experiment for ultra high energy neutrinos. RET-CR will serve as the testbed for the radar echo method to probe high-energy particle cascades in nature, whereby a transmitted radio signal is reflected from the ionization left in its wake. This method, recently validated at SLAC experiment T576, shows promising preliminary sensitivity to neutrino-induced cascades above the energy range of optical detectors like IceCube. RET-CR intends to use an in-nature test beam: the dense, in-ice cascade produced when the air shower of an ultra high energy cosmic ray impacts a high-elevation ice sheet. This in-ice cascade, orders of magnitude more dense than the in-air shower that preceded it, is similar in profile and density to the expected cascade from a neutrino-induced cascade deep in the ice. RET-CR will be triggered using surface scintillator technology and will be used to develop, test, and deploy the hardware, firmware, and software needed for the eventual RET-N. We present the strategy, status, and design sensitivity of RET-CR, and discuss its application to eventual neutrino detection.

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First upper limits on the radar cross section of cosmic-ray induced extensive air showers

Cited by 16 publications

References 26 publications

The Radar Echo Telescope for Cosmic Rays: Pathfinder Experiment for a Next-Generation Neutrino Observatory

The Radar Echo Telescope for Cosmic Rays: Pathfinder Experiment for a Next-Generation Neutrino Observatory

The Radar Echo Telescope for Neutrinos (RET-N)

Toward High Energy Neutrino Detection with the Radar Echo Telescope for Cosmic Rays (RET-CR)

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