IceCube: The Rationale for Kilometer-Scale Neutrino Detectors

Understand

At a time when IceCube is nearing completion, we revisit the rationale for constructing kilometer-scale neutrino detectors.

• We focus on the prospect that such observatories reveal the still-enigmatic sources of cosmic rays.
• While only a "smoking gun" is missing for the case that the Galactic component of the cosmic-ray spectrum originates in supernova remnants, the origin of the extragalactic component remains a mystery.
• We speculate on neutrino emission from gamma-ray bursts and active galaxies.