The RICE experiment (Radio Ice Cherenkov Experiment) at the South Pole, co-deployed with the AMANDA experiment, seeks to detect ultra-high energy (UHE) electron neutrinos interacting in cold polar ice. Such interactions produce electromagnetic showers, which emit radio-frequency Cherenkov radiation. We describe the experimental apparatus and the procedures used to measure the neutrino flux.

Upper limits are presented on the diffuse flux of ultra-high energy ν e , based on analysis of data taken by the RICE experiment during August, 2000. The RICE receiver array at South Pole monitors cold ice for radio-wavelength Cherenkov radiation resulting from neutrino-induced inice showers. For energies above 1 EeV, RICE is an effective detector of over 15 km 3 sr. Potential signal events are separated from backgrounds using vertex location, event reconstruction, and signal shape. These are the first terrestrial limits exploiting the physics of radio Cherenkov emissions from charged-current ν e + N → e + N ′ interactions.

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