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1. New approaches for gamma-hadron separation at the IceCube Neutrino Observatory

   https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/202328004004  

   Bontempo, Federico (January 2023, EPJ Web of Conferences)

   Capone, A.; De Vincenzi, M.; Morselli, A. (Ed.)

   The IceCube Neutrino Observatory located at the geographic South Pole is composed of two detectors. One is the in-ice optical array, which measures high-energy muons from air showers and charged particles produced by the interaction of high-energy neutrinos in the ice. The other is an array of ice-Cherenkov tanks at the surface, called IceTop, which is used both as veto for the in-ice neutrino measurements and for detecting cosmic-ray air showers. In the next decade, the IceCube-Gen2 extension will increase the surface coverage including surface radio antennas and scintillator panels on the footprint of an extended optical array in the ice. The combination of the current surface and in-ice detectors can be exploited for the study of cosmic rays and the search for PeV gamma rays. The in-ice detector measures the high-energy muonic component of air showers, whereas the signal in IceTop is dominated by the electromagnetic component. The relative size of the muonic and electromagnetic components is different for gamma-and hadron-induced air showers. Thus, the gamma-hadron separation of cosmic rays is attempted using machine learning techniques including deep learning. Here, different approaches are presented. Finally, the prospects for the detection of PeV photons with IceCube-Gen2 will be discussed. 

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2. Latest Cosmic Ray Results from IceTop and IceCube

   https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/201921003005  

   Andeen, Karen; Plum, Matthias; Lhenry-Yvon, I.; Biteau, J.; Deligny, O.; Ghia, P. (January 2019, EPJ Web of Conferences)

   The IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the geographic South Pole, with its surface array IceTop, detects three different components of extensive air showers: the total signal at the surface, low energy muons on the periphery of the showers, and high energy muons in the deep In Ice array of IceCube. These measurements enable determination of the energy spectrum and composition of cosmic rays from PeV to EeV energies, the anisotropy in the distribution of cosmic ray arrival directions, the muon density of cosmic ray air showers, and the PeV gamma-ray flux. Furthermore, IceTop can be used as a veto for the neutrino measurements. The latest results from these IceTop analyses will be presented along with future plans. 

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3. Study of mass composition of cosmic rays with IceTop and IceCube

   https://doi.org/10.22323/1.395.0323  

   Abbasi, Rasha; Ackermann, Markus; Adams, Jenni; Aguilar, Juanan; Ahlers, M.; Ahrens, Maryon; Alispach, Cyril Martin; Alves Junior, Antonio Augusto; Amin, Najia Moureen; An, Rui; et al (July 2021, Proceedings of the 37th International Cosmic Ray Conference)

   null (Ed.)

   The IceCube Neutrino Observatory is a multi-component detector at the South Pole which detects high-energy particles emerging from astrophysical events. These particles provide us with insights into the fundamental properties and behaviour of their sources. Besides its principal usage and merits in neutrino astronomy, using IceCube in conjunction with its surface array, IceTop, also makes it a unique three-dimensional cosmic-ray detector. This distinctive feature helps facilitate detailed cosmic-ray analysis in the transition region from galactic to extragalactic sources. We will present the progress made on multiple fronts to establish a framework for mass-estimation of primary cosmic rays. The first technique relies on a likelihood-based analysis of the surface signal distribution and improves upon the standard reconstruction technique. The second uses advanced methods in graph neural networks to use the full in-ice shower footprint, in addition to global shower-footprint features from IceTop. A comparison between the two methods for composition analysis as well as a possible extension of the analysis techniques for sub-PeV cosmic-ray air-showers will also be discussed. 

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4. Hybrid cosmic ray measurements using the IceAct telescopes in coincidence with the IceCube and IceTop detectors

   Larissa Paul, Matthias Plum (July 2021, Proceedings of the 37th International Cosmic Ray Conference)

   null (Ed.)

   IceAct is a proposed surface array of compact (50 cm diameter) and cost-effective Imaging Air Cherenkov Telescopes installed at the site of the IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the geographic South Pole. Since January 2019, two IceAct telescope demonstrators, featuring 61 silicon pho- tomultiplier (SiPM) pixels have been taking data in the center of the IceTop surface array during the austral winter. We present the first analysis of hybrid cosmic ray events detected by the IceAct imaging air-Cherenkov telescopes in coincidence with the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, includ- ing the IceTop surface array and the IceCube in-ice array. By featuring an energy threshold of about 10 TeV and a wide field-of-view, the IceAct telescopes show promising capabilities of im- proving current cosmic ray composition studies: measuring the Cherenkov light emissions in the atmosphere adds new information about the shower development not accessible with the current detectors, enabling significantly better primary particle type discrimination on a statistical basis. The hybrid measurement also allows for detailed feasibility studies of detector cross-calibration and of cosmic ray veto capabilities for neutrino analyses. We present the performance of the telescopes, the results from the analysis of two years of data, and an outlook of a hybrid simulation for a future telescope array. 

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5. New IceTop trigger in the context of the planned IceCube surface detector enhancement at the South Pole

   https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-0221/19/01/C01031  

   IceCube_Collaboration (January 2024, Journal of Instrumentation)

   IceTop is the square kilometer surface array for cosmic-ray air showers of the IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the South Pole. IceTop consists of 81 stations, each comprised of a pair of ice-Cherenkov tanks, which over the years loses sensitivity due to snow coverage. This motivated the plan to enhance IceTop by the deployment of elevated scintillation panels and radio antennas. Coincident detection of an air shower with the IceTop tanks, the scintillators, and the antennas will increase the measurement accuracy of the cosmic-ray properties. While the radio antennas of the enhancement have a higher sensitivity to inclined showers, the current IceTop trigger, requiring coincident hits of both tanks of a station, loses efficiency for such showers. Therefore, we studied the feasibility of adding a trigger based on the multiplicity of single tank hits and studied its performance with simulations and data including a one-day test run at the South Pole. In this paper, we present the plans for the surface enhancement and the studies for the new IceTop trigger. 

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