Physics Potential of a Radio Surface Array at the South Pole

¹ Institute of Experimental Particle Physics, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe, Germany
² Bartol Research Institute, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA

^★ e-mail: frank.schroeder@kit.edu and e-mail: fgs@udel.edu

Published online: 24 September 2019

Abstract

A surface array of radio antennas will enhance the performance of the IceTop array and enable new, complementary science goals. First, the accuracy for cosmic-ray air showers will be increased since the radio array provides a calorimetric measurement of the electromagnetic component and is sensitive to the position of the shower maximum. This enhanced accuracy can be used to better measure the mass composition, to search for possible mass-dependent anisotropies in the arrival directions of cosmic rays, and for more thorough tests of hadronic interaction models. Second, the sensitivity of the radio array to inclined showers will increase the sky coverage for cosmic-ray measurements. Third, the radio array can be used to search for PeV photons from the Galactic Center. Since IceTop is planned to be enhanced by a scintillator array in the near future, a radio extension sharing the same infrastructure can be installed with minimal additional effort and excellent scientific prospects. The combination of ice-Cherenkov, scintillation, and radio detectors at IceCube will provide unprecedented accuracy for the study of highenergy Galactic cosmic rays.