We study neutrino astrophysics and cosmology utilizing radio and millimeter wavelength detection techniques.
Radio Detection of Ultra-high Energy Neutrinos: We are leaders in the design, development, simulation, and analysis of data from experiments that look for ultra-high energy astrophysical and cosmogenic neutrinos through the radio emission that is made as a result of neutrino interactions on Earth. We contribute to major efforts in this field, including ARA, BEACON, RNO-G, PUEO, and IceCube-Gen2.
Precision Measurements of CMB Polarization: We build telescopes that make precision measurements of the polarization of the CMB to learn about an inflationary period in the early universe and about the properties of neutrinos, among other things. We are involved in the development of CMB-S4, a large-scale ground-based CMB experiment.
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We are the lead institution on the PUEO experiment, a NASA long-duration balloon (LDB) experiment and a part of the NASA Pioneers program. Currently in construction, PUEO will aim to detect radio signals generated via the Askaryan effect from the highest energy neutrinos interacting in the Antarctic ice sheet. PUEO will be sensitive to higher energy neutrinos than other techniques. PUEO is scheduled to launch from McMurdo Station in Antarctica in December of 2025.
We are co-leading the development and deployment of RNO-G, an in-ice radio detector that is being deployed to Summit Station in Greenland. RNO-G builds on the success of ARA and incorporates new interferometric phased array trigger technology. RNO-G will have the sensitivity required to observe ultra-high energy neutrinos. Construction is in progress, with seven out of 35 total science stations completed.
RNO-G is serving as a prototype for future (larger) detectors like IceCube-Gen2. Looking farther into the future, we are also involved in planning for IceCube-Gen2, which will incorporate a large radio array into the design. Adding a radio array will substantially expand the experiment's energy sensitivity, enabling discovery at the highest energies.
BEACON is a mountainside radio detector concept that aims to detect radio emission from air showers created by tau leptons that result from the interaction of tau neutrinos in the Earth. We have helped design and develop an initial prototype system, which is located at Barcroft Station of the White Mountain Research Station in California. Our lab is also involved in hardware development for future stations, and we have worked on searches for cosmic rays using the prototype.
The ARA experiment is an in-ice radio detector for ultra-high energy neutrinos located at the South Pole. At UChicago, we led the development and deployment of a new interferometric phased array trigger that significantly improved instrument sensitivity. We deployed the first system in January 2018, which is working stably and has achieved design specifications. Members of our group have analyzed data from ARA to search for neutrinos.
We are part of the CMB-S4 collaboration, a next-generation ground-based experiment studying the cosmic microwave background. The instrument, located at the South Pole and in Chile, will be made up a suite of small and large aperture telescopes, housing 500,000 detectors. In particular, we are interested in constraining inflation and properties of neutrinos by measuring the B-mode polarization signature.
SELECTED LATEST JOURNAL PUBLICATIONS
"Design and Initial Performance of the Prototype for the BEACON Instrument for Detection of Ultrahigh Energy Particles", NIM A, 1048 (2023)
"Experimental tests of sub-surface reflectors as an explanation for the ANITA anomalous events", JCAP 4, 16 (2022)
"A low-threshold ultrahigh-energy neutrino search with the Askaryan Radio Array", PRD 105:122006 (2022)
"In situ, broadband measurement of the radio frequency attenuation length at Summit Station, Greenland", J. Glaciology 68:272 (2022)
"The Payload for Ultrahigh Energy Observations (PUEO): A White Paper", JINST 3, 31 (2021)
"A search for ultrahigh-energy neutrinos associated with astrophysical sources using the third flight of ANITA", JCAP 4, 17 (2021)
"Design and Sensitivity of the Radio Neutrino Observatory in Greenland (RNO-G)", JINST 16 P03025 (2021)
"Prospects for high elevation detection of >100 PeV Tau Neutrinos", JCAP 11 065 (2020)
"IceCube-Gen2: The Window to the Extreme Universe", J. Phys G. 48 (2021)
"Revisiting AGN as the Source of IceCube's Diffuse Neutrino Flux", JCAP 3, 31 (2020)
"Design and Performance of an Interferometric Trigger Array for Radio Detection of High-Energy Neutrinos", NIM 930, 112-125 (2019)
"Constraints on the ultra-high energy cosmic neutrino flux from the fourth flight of ANITA", PRD 99, 122001 (2019)
"Superheavy Dark Matter and ANITA’s Anomolous Events", PRD 100, 4 (2019)
"Fundamental Physics with High-Energy Cosmic Neutrinos", Astro2020 Decadal Survey (2019), arXiv: 1903.04334
"Astrophysics Uniquely Enabled by Observations of High-Energy Cosmic Neutrinos", Astro2020 Decadal Survey (2019), arXiv: 1903.04334
"CMB-S4 Science Case, Reference Design, and Project Plan.", arXiv:1907.04473 (2019)
David N. Schramm Director of the Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics
Professor, Physics, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Enrico Fermi Institute, KICP. Ph.D., UCLA, 2010.
Research Assistant Professor, Ph.D. MIT 2015.
Research Assistant Professor, Ph.D. Chicago 2015.
KICP Post-Doctoral Fellow, Ph.D. FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg 2022.
Grainger Post-Doctoral Fellow, Ph.D. OSU 2022.
Grainger Post-Doctoral Fellow, Ph.D. Oxford 2022.
Physics Graduate Student
Physics Graduate Student
Physics Graduate Student
Undergraduate Student, Physics
Undergraduate Student, Molecular Engineering
Undergraduate Student, Astrophysics
Undergraduate student, Physics
We are always looking for new members! Contact Abby (avieregg@kicp.uchicago.edu) if you're interested in joining our group.
Now at Convoy Inc.
Now an Assistant Professor at Wisconsin-Madison
Now an Associate Data Scientist at Longevity Holdings Inc.
Now a Scientist at JPL
Now an Assistant Professor at Ohio State University
Now at Bank of America
Now at the Department of Defense
Our lab's work has been featured....
On CNN.
On NASA.
From the White House.
On Wired.
Again in Symmetry Magazine.
Our lab is part of the Kavli Institute of Cosmological Physics in the new Eckhardt Research Center at the University of Chicago.
Abby can be reached via phone at 773-834-2988, via email at avieregg@kicp.uchicago.edu, or at the following mailing address: Abigail Vieregg, University of Chicago, 5640 S. Ellis Ave - ERC 429, Chicago, IL 60637.
