Design of the next-generation ultrahigh energy neutrino observatory PUEO

Abarr, Quin; on behalf of the PUEO collaboration,; Allison, P.; Alvarez-Muñiz, J.; Ammerman Yebra, J.; Anderson, T.; Basharina-Freshville, A.; Beatty, J. J.; Besson, D. Z.; Bose, R.; Braun, D.; Chen, P.; Chen, Y.; Clem, J. M.; Coakley, T.; Connolly, A.; Cremonesi, L.; Cummings, A. C.; Deaconu, Cosmin; Flaherty, J.; Gorham, P. W.; Hornhuber, C.; Hoffman, J.; Hughes, K.; Hynous, A.; Jackson, M.; Jung, A.; Ku, Y.; Kuo, C.-Y.; Leone, G.; Lin, C.; Linton, P.; Liu, T. C.; Luszczak, W.; Mackey, S.; Martin, Z.; McBride, K.; Miki, C.; Mishra, M.; Nam, J.; Nichol, R. J.; Novikov, A.; Nozdrina, A.; Oberla, E.; Prohira, S.; Prechelt, R.; Pumphrey, H.; Rauch, B. F.; Scrandis, R.; Seckel, D.; Seikh, M. F. H.; Shiao, J.; Simburger, G.; Varner, G. S.; Vieregg, A. G.; Wang, S.-H.; Welling, C.; Wissel, S. A.; Xie, C.; Young, R.; Zas, E.; Zeolla, A.

doi:10.22323/1.444.1028

Abstract

PUEO (the Payload for Ultrahigh Energy Observations) is a balloon-borne payload designed to detect the impulsive radio signals produced through the Askaryan effect by ultrahigh-energy (UHE) neutrinos (>1 EeV) in the Antarctic ice. Several key upgrades over its predecessor ANITA allow for an order of magnitude improvement in sensitivity to UHE neutrinos. These include an interferometric phased array trigger, newly designed antennas that double the overall collecting area above 300 MHz, a dedicated low-frequency instrument optimized for detection of air showers, and a roughly order-of-magnitude improvement in pointing resolution enabled by new inertial navigation systems. Through the combination of these improvements, PUEO is expected to have world-leading sensitivity to UHE neutrinos when it flies on a long duration balloon during the 2025-2026 austral summer from McMurdo Station, Antarctica.