Jan Auffenberg Universität Wuppertal

A radio air shower surface detector (RASSD) as an extension for IceCube and IceTop (ppt)

IceCube is built into the ice sheet at the South Pole to measure high energy neutrinos. For this, 4,8k photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) are being deployed at depths about 2km into the ice to measure neutrino induced charged particles like muons. IceTop is a surface air shower detector consisting of PMT tanks located on top of IceCube. To extend IceTop, a RASSD could be built to increase the sensitivity at higher shower energies and for inclined showers. As air showers induced by cosmic rays are a major part of the muonic background in IceCube, IceTop is not only an air shower detector, but also a veto to reduce the background in IceCube. Air showers are detectable by radio signals with a radio surface detector. The major emission process is the coherent synchrotron radiation emitted by e+ e- in the Earths magnetic field (geosynchrotron effect). Simulations of the expected radio signals of air showers are shown and the sensitivity of different antenna field configurations are shown.