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AnitaThe ambitious and innovative ANITA detector is designed to be the first device to identify high energy neutrinos created by collisions between cosmic rays and the the cosmic microwave photons that pervade the Universe.This source of neutrinos creates the unprecedented opportunity to study the laws of physics at the energy frontier. At these energies, neutrino collisions with matter could produce micro-black holes, or other exotic manifestations of theories that attempt to unify all forces of Nature. The balloon-borne payload will circle the continent of Antartica at ~35,000 meters, scanning the vast expanses of ice for telltale pulses of radio emission generated by the neutrino collisions. | 
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 | How Does Anita Detect NeutrinosThe ANITA instrument detects these ultra-high energy neutrinos by use of the Askaryan effect. This effect predicts the production of a coherent radio emission from the cascade of particles produced in a high-energy particle interaction. In other words we're detecting a 'snap' in the radio frequencies caused by the interaction of our ultra-high energy neutrino.In order to detect this radio emission (Askaryan pulses) we need a radio transparent medium for the interaction to occur in - and lots of it since these interactions are rare. Some materials that are radio transparent are salt, sand and ice. We also need a fairly radio quiet area as the Askaryan pulses are very faint signals. ANITA is currently scheduled to fly from McMurdo base Antarctica in December of 2006. A preliminary experiment, ANITA-LITE flew in December of 2003 to make a measurement of the Antarctic radio background and verify it was quiet enough for ultra-high energy neutrino detection. |
Further InformationContactRyan Nichol Mark Lancaster |
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Last Modified : 14:27:50 17 Oct 2007