Detection of ultra-high energy neutrinos and cosmic rays with Tianshan radio array

Abstract

The detection of cosmic neutrinos is opening a new window beyond the electromagnetic observable universe. However, the traditional technique for neutrino detection does not facilitate the observation of super high-energy neutrinos due to the limited effective area and duty cycle resulted from the high cost of the detectors. The radio technique is employed in the Sino-French TianShan mountain neutrino telescopes using the low-cost, all-duty cycle antenna, and this technique allows to build a large area array to achieve the desired sensitivity of super high energy neutrino astronomy. In the Key Project of Chinese National Programs for Fundamental Research and Development “cosmic detection of the first rays of dawn” funding, a prototype array has been built and important results were achieved in the years 2011-2012. Relying only unipolar antenna array, it effectively detects the air shower first in the world without traditional particle detectors. We plan to build a giant antenna array, which would be the worlds most sensitive super high-energy neutrino telescope.