42-TV-01
EMBARGOED UNTIL 11 A.M. PST, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21, 2001
ANTARCTIC PARTICLE DETECTOR SUCCESS OPENS DOOR TO HIGH-ENERGY NEUTRINO STUDIES
AMANDA Facility May Usher in New Direction for Exploring the Cosmos
Irvine, Calif. -- The world's largest particle detector, located deep in the Antarctic ice cap, has yielded data on high-energy neutrinos--among the lightest and most elusive particles in the universe--that can provide a greater understanding of the cataclysmic activity of quasars, gamma ray bursts and other cosmic turbulence.
First operational in 1997, the Antarctic Muon and Neutrino Detector Array (AMANDA) facility, managed by an international team of scientists including several from the UC Irvine Department of Physics & Astronomy, was established to measure the high-energy form of neutrinos. The research team's observations represent the first conclusive results that AMANDA can detect these rare subatomic particles. Their findings appear in the March 22 issue of Nature.
"These results mark a significant step toward establishing the field of high-energy neutrino astronomy," said Steven Barwick, a UC Irvine physicist who co-leads the AMANDA research team. "Of all the high-energy particles emitted from the violent, energetic events occurring at the beginning of time, only neutrinos can directly provide information on these activities."
Using a massive 400 meter-tall detector located more than a mile beneath the Antarctic ice surface, the AMANDA project is the first attempt by physicists to detect high-energy neutrinos, whose energy is more than 10,000 times that of low-energy neutrinos emitted by the sun. Low-energy neutrinos are regularly captured by smaller detectors throughout the world, but these sites do not have the capability to yield data on rarer high-energy neutrinos. AMANDA is the first to search for sources far beyond our own galaxy.
By studying these high-energy neutrinos, AMANDA researchers hope to unlock some of the secrets of the far universe, such as the sources of cosmic rays and whether these sources are powered by accelerating protons or electrons.
"We can't directly determine where cosmic rays originate, but with a bit of luck, high-energy neutrinos may point to the birthplace of cosmic rays," Barwick said.
Along with Barwick, other UCI researchers contributing to the AMANDA project are Daniel Bierenbaum, John Dailing, Stephan Hundertmark, John Kim, Patrick Mock, Corey Reed, Wenqing Wu, Gaurang Yodh and Scott Young. Overall, 121 scientists from 15 universities and institutes in the United States and Europe collaborate on AMANDA research. Their work is supported by the U.S. Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, the University of Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, the Swedish Natural Science Council, the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat, the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, the German Ministry for Education and Research, the U.S. Scientific Computing Center, the UC Irvine AENEAS Supercomputer Facility and Deutsch Forschungsgemeinschaft, an organization supporting research by German citizens outside the country.
###Contact:Tom Vasich(49) 824.6455[email protected]
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