The Present and Future of High-Energy Neutrino Astronomy

Naoko Neilson,
Professor in the Department of Physics at Drexel University

 

Abstract

In the past decade, high-energy neutrino astronomy went from dream to reality with the IceCube Neutrino Observatory discovering astronomical sources in the sky that emit TeV energy scale neutrinos. In 2023, the diffuse emission of the Galactic Plane was observed in  neutrinos, making it the first non-electromagnetic view of our own galaxy. Much of this success is owed not just to longer integration time to accumulate data but to novel data processing techniques. Fundamentally, neutrino telescopes are particle physics detectors, and discovering faint neutrino signals hidden in dominating backgrounds requires statistical rigor and creative algorithms. The successes of neutrino astronomy in the past decade opened a new field, and the current state of neutrino astronomy is evolving. With more future neutrino telescopes planned, the field is poised to make more discoveries.

Timbits, coffee, tea will be served in STI A before the colloquium.