NuRadioMC: simulating the radio emission of neutrinos from interaction to detector

Abstract

NuRadioMC is a Monte Carlo framework designed to simulate ultra-high energy neutrino detectors that rely on the radio detection method. This method exploits the radio emission generated in the electromagnetic component of a particle shower following a neutrino interaction. NuRadioMC simulates everything from the neutrino interaction in a medium, the subsequent Askaryan radio emission, the propagation of the radio signal to the detector and finally the detector response. NuRadioMC is designed as a modern, modular Python-based framework, combining flexibility in detector design with user-friendliness. It includes a stateof-the-art event generator, an improved modelling of the radio emission, a revisited approach to signal propagation and increased flexibility and precision in the detector simulation. This paper focuses on the implemented physics processes and their implications for detector design. A variety of models and parameterizations for the radio emission of neutrino-induced showers are compared and reviewed. Comprehensive examples a are used to discuss the capabilities of the code and different aspects of instrumental design decisions.Keywords Neutrino astronomy · radio detection · simulation · signal processing · ice propagation · Askaryan · PACS 07.05.Kf · 95.85.Ry · 95.55.Vj · 95.85.Bh · 07.05.Tp

Neutrino vertex reconstruction with in-ice radio detectors using surface reflections and implications for the neutrino energy resolution

“…This simulation includes all relevant effects such as a realistic neutrino vertex distribution, viewing angle differences of the two signal trajectories, incoming signal directions, reflection at the surface, etc. (see [13] for details).…”

“…7. The signal paths are calculated with NuRadioMC [13] using the Moore's Bay #2 index-of-refraction profile from [22]. The emitted signal is e θ polarized, as the emitting dipole is vertically oriented.…”

“…4 left and [13]) such that both the direct and reflected pulse have a similar amplitude when received with a dipole antenna with equal sensitivity to updward and downward coming signals equally displaced from the horizon. We calculate the predicted Askaryan signal using the precise ARZ2019 time-domain model [13,31], fold this pulse with the antenna response, place two copies of the pulse 10 ns apart, add thermal noise and calculate the time delay between the two pulses using the same cross-correlation method as discussed above. We repeat this a thousand times for each signal-to-noise ratio to estimate the ∆t resolution from the standard deviation of the time-delay distribution.…”

“…The distance to the neutrino vertex can be measured precisely via the D'n'R (direct and reflected) technique [11,12]. An antenna placed O(15 m) below the ice surface will measure two pulses for the vast majority of detected neutrinos [13], one direct signal and a slightly delayed signal that is reflected off the ice surface. The time delay between the two pulses is a proxy for the vertex distance.…”

“…We first perform a Monte-Carlo study using NuRadioMC [13] in which we determine the relation between time delay and distance, and simulate the resolution on the vertex distance and the corresponding contribution to the neutrino energy uncertainty. Then, we present an in-situ measurement performed with the ARIANNA detector on the Ross ice shelf to demonstrate the experimental feasibility of this technique.…”