Speaker
Prof.
Kara Hoffman
(UMD)
Description
The search for astrophysical neutrinos has given rise to a new generation of neutrino telescopes of an unprecedented scale, including IceCube, ANTARES and ANITA. While these instruments are, first and foremost, astronomical observatories, they also occupy a unique niche in the field of particle physics. These detectors may offer a glimpse of high energy neutrinos that reach us over cosmological distances. In addition, the atmospheric neutrino flux may be used as a test beam for long baseline oscillation studies which will be sensitive to flavor induced neutrino oscillations, such as those expected if Lorentz invariance were violated at very small scales. These instruments may also be employed in the indirect detection of WIMPs and the search for exotic phenomena such as magnetic monopoles. Here I will review the capability of these observatories from the perspective of a particle physicist.
Author
Prof.
Kara Hoffman
(UMD)
