Theoretical Particle Physics:
2022.04.25
IceCube neutrinos give us first glimpse into the inner depths of an active galaxy
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 neutrinos give us first glimpse into the inner depths of an active galaxy - new article in Science
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.
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
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.
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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.
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Neutrino oscillations The DeepCore array inside IceCube has a low-energy threshold that allows us to study neutrino oscillation properties. |
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Neutrino Astronomy This area of research includes searches for neutrino sources, and progenitors of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECR). |
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Dark Matter (DM) Searches Many theories describing DM candidates predict that they can annihilate into detectable neutrinos. |
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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. |
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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.
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 findes her!
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.
- Agurketid i fysikken (Weekendavisen, August 2016)
- Iskolde neutrinoer holder på hemmelighederne (videnskab.dk, August 2016)
- Search for 'ghost particle' that could hold secret to dark matter draws a blank (independent.co.uk, August 2016)
- El neutrino que podría explicar por qué existimos... no existe (elmundo.es, August 2016)
- Flotte billeder fra Sydpolen: Ph.d.-studerende på sit livs eventyr (videnskab.dk, March 2016)
- Gennembrud på Sydpolen: Nu kan neutrinoer bruges til astronomi (videnskab.dk, August 2015)
- Neutrinoer forvandler sig på rejse gennem Jorden (videnskab.dk, April 2015)
- "Neutrinoer på Sydpolen", 10 min. præsentation til gymnasieelever (Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, November 2014)
Press Releases
- The long hunted sterile neutrino cannot be traced (NBI Press Release, August 2016)
- Detector at the South Pole explores the mysterious neutrinos (NBI Press Release, April 2015)
- IceCube sees first signs of high-energy extraterrestrial neutrinos (NBI Press Release, November 2013)
- Niels Bohr Institute part of the reseach project IceCube at the South Pole (NBI Press Release, October 2013)
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
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:
- Publications 2015 >>
- Publications 2016 >>
- Publications 2017 >>
- Publications 2018 >>
- Publications 2019 >>
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.
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.
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David Jason Koskinen Neutrino oscillations |
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Markus Ahlers Cosmic neutrino sources |
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Tom Stuttard Neutrino oscillations |
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Troels Christian Petersen The Niels Bohr Institute, |
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Andreas Søgaard E-mail: andreas.sogaard@nbi.ku.dk |
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David Ribers Cosmic neutrino sources |
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Tetiana Kozynets Low-Energy Event Reconstruction |
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Kathrine Mørch Groth Neutrino point sources and multi-messenger astronomy |
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Amalie Albrechtsen NMO sensitivity with IceCube DeepCore |
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Jorge Prado Gonzalez IceCube Upgrade atmospheric neutrino event selection |
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Linea Hedemark Low-energy neutrino cross-sections with GENIE |
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Moust Holmes Machine learning algorithms for IceCube Upgrade |
Previous members
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Subir Sarkar Returned to Oxford as Professor at the Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics |
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Mohamed Rameez Dark Matter Now researcher at Tata Institute |
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James Vincent Mead |
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Etienne Bourbeau Now data scientist for the Konkurrence- og Forbrugerstyrelsen |
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Morten Medici Now a Data Scientist at Novo Nordisk |
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Kaare Endrup Iversen |
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Leon Bozianu |
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Martin Langgård Ravn |
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Kathrine Mørch Groth Now PhD student at the NBIA |
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Rasmus Faldt Ørsøe Now a PhD student with the IceCube group at Technical University of Munich |
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Kasper Pedersen |
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Sofus Stray |
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Jonathan Jegstrup |
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Tetiana Kozynets Now PhD Student at the Niels Bohr Institute |
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Taus Munk Now creating quantitative solutions at EY |
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Lea Halser |
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Ida Storehaug Now PhD Student at the ALICE Experiment at the University of Oslo |
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Mia-Louise Nielsen Now PhD student at Bispebjerg Hospital |
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Thomas Schandorf Halberg Now Data Engineer at Novo Nordisk |
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Mikkel Jensen Now Data Scientist at Risika |
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Eva Brottman Hansen Went on to become PhD Student at Lund University |
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Rasmus Rasmussen Now Assistant to the Danish Finance Agency |
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Joakim Sandroos Went on to become PhD Student at JGU-Mainz, Germany |
The IceCube group is based on the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen, Blegdamsvej 17, 2100 København Ø.
D. Jason Koskinen
Associate Professor
The Niels Bohr Institute,
Blegdamsvej 17,
Telefon: +45 21 28 90 61
E-mail: koskinen@nbi.ku.dk
Group leader,
D. Jason Koskinen, Associate Professor
Phone: +45 21 28 90 61
E-mail: koskinen@nbi.ku.dk
