Neutrino astronomy with the AMANDA and IceCube detectors

Abstract

IceCube is a 1 km neutrino detector which is now under construction at the South Pole. IceCube will search for neutrinos from astrophysical sources, with energies from 100 GeV up to 1019 eV. In addition to detecting astrophysical neutrinos it will also search for neutrinos from WIMP annihilation in the Earth and the Sun and look for low-energy (MeV) neutrinos from SuperNovae. AMANDA, the predecessor of IceCube, has been taking data in its final configuration since 2000. This smaller detector has a denser spacing of optical modules and is therefore sensitive to neutrinos of lower energies. Results will be shown from the analysis of 7 years of AMANDA data and from preliminary analyses of data taken with IceCube in 2007, in its configuration with 22 strings. In the near future, AMANDA will be replaced by the Deep Core detector, a purpose-built, low-energy extension of IceCube.