Toward Completion of the Hexagonal Prototype Antarctic Ross Ice-shelf ANtenna Neutrino Array
ARIANNA aims to push the boundaries of extremely high energy neutrino physics, by achieving at least an orders of magnitude better sensitivity to extragalactic neutrinos with energies between 10^17 and 10^20 eV relative to any other experiment to date.
ARIANNA is a surface array detector. The full array will span ~1300 km^2 of the vast Ross Ice Shelf (RIS), and have a ~0.7 teraton fiducial volume. ARIANNA uses a unique method to monitor such a vast area. It listens for sub-nanosecond radio frequency pulses, reflected off the water-ice interface at the bottom of the RIS, which reach the surface. The viability of the detection technique has been confirmed.
The experiment is currently in its R&D stage with the goal of successfully running seven stations in a hexagonal array configuration. Three second generation stations have been deployed and operated during the 2013-2014 season, collecting excellent quality data that are indicative of the performance and capability of a full array. The final four stations will be deployed in a few months, completing the demonstration phase of the experiment.