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The Beamforming Elevated Array for COsmic Neutrinos (BEACON) is a concept for a neutrino telescope designed to detect radio emission from upgoing air showers induced by tau leptons that are generated by ultra-high energy tau neutrino interactions in the Earth. This detection mechanism provides a pure measurement of the tau flavor of cosmogenic and astrophysical neutrinos, which could be used to set limits on the observed flavor ratios in a manner complimentary to the all-flavor neutrino flux measurements made by other experiments. A BEACON prototype has been installed at high elevation at Barcroft Field Station for several years and consists of 4 crossed-dipole antennas operating in the 30-80 MHz band and connected to a custom DAQ. The BEACON prototype is at high elevation to maximize effective volume and uses a directional beamforming trigger to reduce man-made background signals at the trigger level. This prototype system is expected to be capable of detecting downgoing cosmic ray air showers, a signal like the upgoing tau lepton air shower, but distinguishable chiefly by arrival direction. Here we give an overview of the BEACON experiment and present an ongoing cosmic ray search with data from the BEACON prototype. Cosmic ray candidates that are identified by this search will be used to experimentally determine the sensitivity of the BEACON concept to the known cosmic ray flux, which can then be used to predict the sensitivity of a full-scale BEACON array to the cosmogenic and astrophysical neutrino fluxes.
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Searching for RF-Only Triggered Cosmic Ray Events with the High-Elevation BEACON Prototype
The Beamforming Elevated Array for COsmic Neutrinos (BEACON) is a concept for a neutrino telescope designed to measure tau lepton air showers generated from tau neutrino interactions near the horizon. This detection mechanism provides a pure measurement of the tau flavor of cosmogenic neutrinos, which could be used to set limits on the observed flavor ratios for cosmogenic neutrinos in a manner complimentary to the all-flavor neutrino flux measurements made by other experiments. BEACON is expected to also be capable of detecting cosmic rays through RF-only triggers. BEACON aims to achieve this sensitivity by using mountaintop radio arrays of dual-polarized antennas operating in the 30-80 MHz band which utilize directional interferometric triggering. BEACON stations are designed to efficiently use a small amount of instrumentation, allowing for deployment in a variety of high-elevation sites. The interferometric trigger provides a natural tool for directional-based anthropogenic RFI rejection at the trigger level, broadening the list for potential station sites. The BEACON prototype has seen continuous design advancements towards improving the mechanical durability and scientific capabilities since its initial deployment at White Mountain Research Station in 2018. Here we present the current prototype’s sensitivity to RF-triggered cosmic-ray background signals. We also present the next generation prototype, which includes scintillating cosmic ray detectors, improved antennas, and refined calibration techniques.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2033500
- PAR ID:
- 10319909
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Proceedings of 37th International Cosmic Ray Conference
- Volume:
- 395
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Conference Paper:
- https://doi.org/10.22323/1.395.1084
