IceCube Experiment

The IceCube Neutrino Observatory, embedded down to 2.5 km deep under the South Pole, is the world's largest and most sensitive ‘telescope' for high energy neutrinos. With a cubic kilometer of instrumented ice it is the largest particle detector in the world.

IceCube is a part of the subatomic group at the Niels Bohr Institute. The group includes both experimentalists and theorists (from the Niels Bohr International Academy). Indicated are selected topics of responsibility or research interests within neutrino physics and IceCube.

IceCube detects 275 atmospheric neutrinos daily and about 100,000 per year.

IceCube is comprised of 86 cables, each holding 60 digital optical modules (DOMs).

The construction of IceCube could only take place for a few months each year during the Southern Hemisphere’s summer.

Every day, 275 million cosmic rays are detected by IceCube.

About 300 scientists at 52 institutions in 12 countries conduct IceCube science.

IceCube is designed to detect particles from cataclysmic events that have energies a million times greater than nuclear reactions.

One terabyte of unfiltered data is collected daily by IceCube and about 100 gigabytes are sent over satellite for analysis.

ICRC poster prize to NBI student

23/07 2021

Tetiana Kozynets, a 1^st year PhD student with the IceCube group, presented her Numerical Approach to Angular Distributions in Hadronic Cascades at the largest astroparticle physics conference, ICRC 2021, with over 1800 attendees. Her poster presentation, with over 600 competitors, was awarded one of three poster prizes. Applications of her work include the modeling of cosmic ray showers for atmospheric fluxes in neutrino physics, which benefit from a speed boost over Monte Carlo techniques through matrix cascade equations (MCEq) but extended to two-dimensions for the first time.

About us

The IceCube group at the Niels Bohr Institute is engaged with both the experimental and theoretical side of neutrino physics and astrophysics, being embedded within the Discovery Center and involving theorists from the Niels Bohr International Academy.

IceCube members at NBI have a broad science portfolio: from searches for high-energy neutrinos from the most violent astrophysical phenomena in the universe such as gamma-ray bursts, supernovae, active galactic nuclei, etc, to fundamental physics probes of quantum mechanical neutrino oscillations and searches for dark matter.

NBI's participation in IceCube was made possible through the support of the Danish National Research Foundation and members of the IceCube groups are also supported by the Villum Foundation, and the Carlsberg Foundation.

Our Collaboration

Since 2013 NBI has been a full member of the IceCube Collaboration, which includes over 300 scientists from 49 institutions in 12 countries.

The full list of collaborating institutions is available on the collaboration website

Funding

Research

IceCube is a polyvalent detector that is well suited for many different areas of research. Our local group at NBI is focusing its efforts in two main areas: low-energy neutrino oscillations, and high-energy astroparticle physics.

	Neutrino oscillations The DeepCore array inside IceCube has a low-energy threshold that allows us to study neutrino oscillation properties.
	Neutrino Astronomy This area of research includes searches for neutrino sources, and progenitors of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECR).
	Dark Matter (DM) Searches Many theories describing DM candidates predict that they can annihilate into detectable neutrinos.
	The IceCube Upgrade Work is underway to develop the software and analysis tools needed for a new extension of IceCube, to be deployed in 2022/2023.
	Discover The Detector Learn more about how neutrinos are detected in IceCube.

Prospective B.Sc. and M.Sc. students are encouraged to contact Jason Koskinen, koskinen@nbi.ku.dk, regarding working with the NBI IceCube group and possible Projects.

Masterclass: 2022 at blive annonceret

Kunne du tænke dig at være fysiker for en dag?

Forskerne på Niels Bohr Institutet inviterer til et en-dagskursus for gymnasieelever, der tager udgangspunkt i partikelfysik og astronomi.

Med fundet af Higgs partiklet i 2012 fandt man den sidste brik i standard modellen, men der er stadig meget der skal forklares – såsom f.eks. mørk stof og energi, og en dybere forståelse af naturkræfterne.

Efter et kort udsættelse er Masterclass tilbage; detaljer om 2022 Masterclass annonceres snart!

Outreach

The IceCube group is engaged in mulitiple outreach projects, and we always welcome groups of interested people to learn more about this fascinating experiment.

Interact with IceCube

Any interested groups are encouraged to contact us regarding activities/events related to IceCube and neutrinos. We can come to you, or you can come to us!

High school classes are always welcome to apply for lectures/activities.

High school students are invited to individually to join the international IceCube MasterClass on April 15th, 2020: Spend a full day at the Niels Bohr Institute, analyse real data from IceCube to discover astrophysical neutrinos, and discussing physics with researchers from IceCube.

The international IceCube MasterClass at NBI in 2015 was a huge succes, and attracted enthusiastic students from all over the country.

IceCube has exhibits at the reoccuring event of Kulturnatten (Copenhagen Cultural Night) at NBI.

We are happy to tell more, so please contact us.

IceCube in the Media

Below you will find a list of articles, interviews, and other media regarding the IceCube group at NBI.

Press Releases

Publications

Below is a list of publications that have directly involved work from members of the IceCube group at the Niels Bohr Institute.

Work involving our group:

Tom Stuttard and Mikkel Jensen. Neutrino decoherence from quantum gravitational stochastic perturbations. https://arxiv.org/abs/2007.00068

IceCube Collaboration. Constraints on Neutrino Emission from Nearby Galaxies Using the 2MASS Redshift Survey and IceCube. https://arxiv.org/pdf/1911.11809.pdf

IceCube Collaboration. Measurement of Atmospheric Tau Neutrino appearance with IceCube DeepCore. https://arxiv.org/pdf/1901.05366.pdf

IceCube Collaboration. Combined Analysis of Cosmic-Ray Anisotropy with Icecube and HAWC. https://arxiv.org/abs/1708.03005

IceCube Collaboration. Search for Neutrinos from Dark Matter Annihilations in the center of the Milky Way with 3 years of IceCube/DeepCore. https://arxiv.org/abs/1705.08103

The IceCube Collaboration's full author list is available here.

Theoretical papers from our NBIA colleagues:

Mertsch, Philipp, Rameez, Mohamed and Tamborra, Irene. Detection Prospects for high-energy neutrino sources from the anisotropic matter distribution in the local Universe. https://arxiv.org/abs/1612.07311

Ahlers, Markus and Mertsch, Philipp. Origin of Small-Scale Anisotropies in Galactic Cosmic Rays. https://arxiv.org/abs/1612.01873

Bechtol, Keith, Ahlers, Markus, Di Mauro, Mattia, Ajello, Marco and Vandenbroucke, Justin. Evidence against star-forming galaxies as the dominant source of IceCube neutrinos. https://arxiv.org/abs/1511.00688

Previous publications:

PhD and Masters theses:

Étienne Bourbeau. Measurement of Tau Neutrino Appearance in 8 Years of IceCube Data (and A Search for astrophysical neutrinos from the Local Universe).
PhD thesis, 2021

Ida Storehaug. Improving the Atmospheric Neutrino Flux Estimation in IceCube
Master's thesis, 2019

Thomas Halberg. Low Energy Neutrino Reconstruction in IceCube and the IceCube Upgrade
Master's thesis, 2019

Mia-Louise Nielsen. Transient Neutrino astrophysics with IceCube-DeepCore.
Master's thesis. 2019

Lea Halser. Neutrino Fluence of Gamma-Ray Bursts for Arbitrary Viewing Angles.
Master's thesis, 2019

Taus Munck Hansen. Multi-Messenger Probes of the Sources of Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays.
Master's thesis, 2019

Michael Larson. A Search for Tau Neutrino Appearance with IceCube-DeepCore.
PhD thesis, 2018.

Mikkel Jensen. Environmentally induced neutrino decoherence in IceCube
Master's thesis, 2018.

Morten Medici. Search for Dark Matter Annihilation in the Galactic Halo using IceCube.
PhD thesis, 2017.

Eva Brottmann Hansen. Early Atmospheric Muon Rejection with IceCube-PINGU.
Master's thesis, 2016

Rasmus Westphal Rasmussen. Determination of the neutrino mixing angle theta_23 octantand differentiation amoung flavour symmetries.
Master's thesis, 2014.

Staff and students

IceCube is a part of the subatomic group at the Niels Bohr Institute and includes both experimentalists and theorists (from the Niels Bohr International Academy). Indicated are selected topics of responsibility or research interests within neutrino physics and IceCube.

	David Jason Koskinen Associate professor The Niels Bohr Institute, Blegdamsvej 17, Bld. M Phone: +45 21 28 90 61 E-mail: koskinen@nbi.ku.dk Homepage Neutrino oscillations IceCube Upgrade
	Markus Ahlers Assistant Professor Niels Bohr International Academy, Blegdamsvej 17, Bld. B Phone: +45 35 32 80 89 E-mail: markus.ahlers@nbi.ku.dk Homepage Cosmic neutrino sources Probing BSM physics with IceCube
	Tom Stuttard Assistant Professor, The Niels Bohr Institute, Blegdamsvej 17, Bld. M Phone: +45 35 33 54 61 E-mail: thomas.stuttard@nbi.ku.dk Neutrino oscillations IceCube computing resources
	James Vincent Mead Postdoctoral researcher The Niels Bohr Institute, Blegdamsvej 17, Bld. M E-mail: james.mead@nbi.ku.dk IceCube Upgrade Neutrino oscillations
	David Ribers PhD student The Niels Bohr International Academy, Blegdamsvej 17, Bld. B Phone: +45 35 33 75 57 E-mail: ribers@nbi.ku.dk Cosmic neutrino sources
	Tetiana Kozynets PhD Student The Niels Bohr Institute, Blegdamsvej 17, Bld. M E-mail: tetiana.kozynets@nbi.ku.dk Low-Energy Event Reconstruction
	Kathrine Mørch Groth PhD Student The Niels Bohr International Academy, Blegdamsvej 17, Bld. B E-mail: kathrine.groth@nbi.ku.dk Neutrino point sources and multi-messenger astronomy

Previous members

	Subir Sarkar Niels Bohr Professorship Niels Bohr International Academy Homepage IceCube Publications Committee Theoretical Neutrino Physics & Astrophysics
	Mohamed Rameez Postdoctoral fellow Niels Bohr International Academy Dark Matter Point source searches Now researcher at Tata Institute
	Michael Larson PhD Student Thesis - "A Search for Tau Neutrino Appearance with IceCube-DeepCore" Now Postdoctoral Researcher at University of Maryland
	Morten Medici PhD Student Thesis - "Search for Dark Matter Annihilation in the Galactic Halo using IceCube" Now a Data Scientist at Novo Nordisk
	Etienne Bourbeau PhD student Thesis - "Measurement of Tau Neutrino Appearance in 8 years of IceCube Data and A Search for Astrophysical Neutrinos from the Local Universe" Now data scientist for the Konkurrence- og Forbrugerstyrelsen
	Kathrine Mørch Groth Master Student Thesis - "Probing Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Ray Models with Cosmogenic Neutrinos and Photons" Now PhD student at the NBIA
	Kasper Pedersen Master Student Thesis - "Advancing New Reconstruction Techniques For Neutrino Detectors"
	Sofus Stray Master Student Thesis - "In-situ relative efficiency calibration of digital optical modules in the IceCube detector"
	Jonathan Jegstrup Master Student Thesis - "Improvements in Simulation Based Reconstruction for Neutrino Telescopes"
	Tetiana Kozynets Master Student Now PhD Student at the Niels Bohr Institute
	Taus Munk Master Student Thesis - "Multi-Messenger Probes of the Sources of Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays" Now creating quantitative solutions at EY
	Lea Halser Master Student Thesis - "Neutrino Fluence of Gamma-Ray Bursts for Arbitrary Viewing Angles"
	Ida Storehaug Master Student Thesis - "Improving the Atmospheric Neutrino Flux Estimation in IceCube" Now PhD Student at the ALICE Experiment at the University of Oslo
	Mia-Louise Nielsen Master Student Thesis - "Transient Neutrino Astrophysics with IceCube DeepCore" Now PhD student at Bispebjerg Hospital
	Thomas Schandorf Halberg Master Student Thesis - "Low Energy Neutrino Reconstruction in IceCube and the ICU" Now Data Engineer at Novo Nordisk
	Mikkel Jensen Master Student Thesis - "Environmentally induced neutrino decoherence in IceCube" Now Data Scientist at Risika
	Eva Brottman Hansen Master Student Thesis - "Early Atmospheric Muon Rejection with IceCube-PINGU" Went on to become PhD Student at Lund University Now Postdoctoral Research Fellow at The University of Manchester
	Rasmus Rasmussen Master Student Thesis - "Determination of the atmospheric neutrino mixing angle 𝜃₂₃ octant and differentiation among flavour symmetries" Now Assistant to the Danish Finance Agency
	Joakim Sandroos Researcher Went on to become PhD Student at JGU-Mainz, Germany Now Partner and Data scientist at Cyroinvest