Detecting extra-galactic supernova neutrinos in the Antarctic ice

Understand

Building on the technological success of the IceCube neutrino telescope, we outline a prospective low-energy extension that utilizes the clear ice of the South Pole.

• Aiming at a 10 Mton effective volume and a 10 MeV threshold, the detector would provide sufficient sensitivity to detect neutrino bursts from core-collapse supernovae (SNe) in nearby galaxies.
• The detector geometry and required density of instrumentation are discussed along with the requirements to control the various sources of background, such as solar neutrinos.
• In particular, the suppression of spallation events induced by atmospheric muons poses a challenge that will need to be addressed.