Exploring elusive cosmic particles utilizing radio antennas buried in Greenland's icy landscape

The world of particle physics is abuzz with excitement as the Radio Neutrino Observatory Greenland (RNO-G) takes shape at the Summit Station research facility in Greenland. This groundbreaking project, which uses radio antennas to detect very high-energy cosmic neutrinos, is set to revolutionise our understanding of the universe.

RNO-G is a collaborative effort involving more than a dozen partners, including the University of Chicago, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Penn State University, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and DESY - one of the world's leading particle accelerator centres. DESY investigates the structure and function of matter, and in Germany, it is a member of the Helmholtz Association, receiving funding from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the German federal states of Hamburg and Brandenburg.

The first stage of installing the equipment for RNO-G is due to continue until mid-August. The scientists plan to install 35 antenna stations, each 1.25 kilometres apart, around Summit Station on the Greenland ice sheet. Each individual station can operate autonomously, powered by solar panels, and will be connected with each other via a wireless network.

The advantage of using radio waves in RNO-G is that ice is fairly transparent to them, allowing for detection over several kilometers. This greater range means a larger volume of ice can be monitored, and the chances of detecting a rare neutrino collision increase.

Neutrinos, sometimes called ghost particles, are extremely elusive, ultralight elementary particles that can pass through walls, the Earth, and even entire stars. They have been notoriously difficult to detect, but with RNO-G, scientists aim to push the boundaries of what is known about these enigmatic particles.

IceCube, the neutrino telescope at the South Pole, uses sensitive optical detectors to look for a faint bluish flash of light from secondary particles produced by rare neutrino collisions. RNO-G, on the other hand, will be sensitive to a much higher energy range, from about ten quadrillion to a hundred quintillion electron volts.

As part of its Generation 2 expansion (IceCube-Gen2), the IceCube neutrino detector at the South Pole is also planned to receive radio antennas to detect radio signals from high-energy neutrinos. This expansion typically involves collaboration from major neutrino observatories and astrophysics research institutes worldwide.

Carrying out the installation during the pandemic has been a logistical challenge, requiring teams to quarantine before arriving at Summit Station. Despite these challenges, the installation of the first antenna stations for RNO-G has been successfully completed, marking a significant milestone in the project's development.

RNO-G is set to remain on the Greenland ice sheet for at least five years, during which time it will provide invaluable data about the nature of neutrinos and their role in the cosmos. With its completion, RNO-G will become the first large-scale radio neutrino detector, ushering in a new era of neutrino astronomy.

Exploring elusive cosmic particles utilizing radio antennas buried in Greenland's icy landscape