South Dakota Mines received a $6 million National Science
Foundation (NSF) grant to enhance big data processing and astronomical
capabilities of the world’s largest neutrino observatory, IceCube, located at the geographic South Pole.
The research will attempt to answer a fundamental question that has puzzled
scientists for more than a century regarding the origin of subatomic cosmic
particles that carry visible energy.
The
four-year project titled “RII Track-2 FEC: The IceCube EPSCoR
Initiative (IEI) - IceCube and the Data Revolution” brings together scientists from South
Dakota Mines, University of Alabama, University of Alaska Anchorage, University
of Delaware, University of Kansas and University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The
team of researchers will work to solve challenges facing Multi-Messenger
Astronomy (MMA) – this new form of astronomy integrates the various types of
signals coming in from outer-space to paint the most-clear picture possible of
our universe. The project is funded through NSF EPSCoR (Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research). EPSCoR’s
mission is to advance excellence in science and engineering research and
education in its jurisdictions.
“Astronomy
has enormous influence on human life and thoughts throughout history: from
navigating early explorers across vast oceans to arousing our deep curiosity about
what the universe is made of,” says Dr.
Xinhua Bai, associate
professor of physics at South Dakota Mines and the IEI’s principal
investigator.
This
project will grow significant big data processing capability across the six
participating institutions. It provides opportunities for scientists with
complementary expertise to collaborate on research and development that could
not be done within a single jurisdiction. It develops high-skill workforce by
providing systematic training in big data for students and early-career
scientists. It also supports exposing secondary school students and the public
to IceCube and its big data challenges, which will help recruit young people
into STEM fields and promote diversity and inclusion.
Traditional
astronomy has progressed from early telescopes using visible light to include
the full electromagnetic spectrum from radio waves to gamma rays. Cosmic rays
were discovered over a century ago, but how the most energetic subatomic
particles are produced remains a mystery. Recent discoveries by the
international scientific community have opened new windows on the universe utilizing
gravitational waves and high energy neutrinos from deep space. Observations of
these cosmic messengers have brought us into the era of MMA. IceCube has a
unique capability as a neutrino detector because neutrinos are electrically
neutral and rarely interact with anything. They allow astronomers to “see” much
deeper into the universe at higher energies than previously possible. The IEI
team will pair information gathered by IceCube and other detectors with cutting-edge
big data techniques to push the very frontiers of astronomy.
“Multi-messenger
observations of astrophysical neutrinos, gravitational waves, cosmic rays and
electromagnetic signals allow us to study matter, energy and the cosmos in
fundamentally new ways.” Bai explains. “Multi-messenger observations also
produce huge amounts of data with enormous complexity. The success of MMA
requires creative methods to obtain accurate physics insight from the vast
amounts of data, and that’s the focus of this project.”
IceCube’s cubic
kilometer array of over 5,000 optical sensors run two kilometers deep into the glacial
ice at the South Pole, turning a gigaton of high-purity ice into a particle detector. This in-ice array, combined with the
Cherenkov detector array, called “IceTop”, on the surface of the ice, produces
about one terabyte of data per day. This is equivalent to about 500 hours’
worth of video each day. The most interesting astrophysical neutrino events
scientists are studying resemble a handful of insects randomly fluttering for a
few microseconds in these movies. “To identify these tiny flutters in the sea
of data is already a huge challenge,” Bai says. “This is not just a needle in a
haystack, this is a microscopic shred of a needle in a haystack.”
The
IceCube collaboration includes scientists from 53 institutions in 12 countries
who seek to answer a variety of questions from cosmic rays to dark matter. Each
of these myriad studies requires various data techniques to explore different
aspects of information embedded in the huge amount of data generated each day.
Past breakthroughs by IceCube (including the high-energy
astrophysical neutrino flux
and the
first high-energy astrophysical neutrino source blazar
TXS 0506+056) have
prompted work and funding toward IceCube-Gen2, the next generation of neutrino observatory
that will increase the data volume by 10 times and operate through 2050.
"EPSCoR
states have played a pioneering role in the IceCube project that has opened a
new window on the universe. The funding of the IEI will create opportunities
for enhancing the science with its inspirational research program," says Francis
Halzen, Ph.D., Hilldale and Gregory Breit Professor in the University of
Wisconsin-Madison, the founder and principal investigator of IceCube. "By
supporting a more inclusive and diverse group of students and scientists, this
project will greatly enhance the contribution of EPSCoR
universities to the future of multi-messenger astronomy with the design
and construction of the next-generation neutrino detector.”
Moreover,
the project supports five early career faculty at four of the IEI institutions,
preparing them for a leadership role in future MMA projects. While the big data
economy is ascendant around the globe, preparing the workforce with skills in
advanced data science adds additional long-term benefit to all six
participating EPSCoR states.
“It
is a fantastic team working on a fantastic project,” says Ralph Davis, Ph.D., vice
president for research at South Dakota Mines. “The project not only injects new
vitality into South Dakota’s Ph.D. program in physics, but also offers students
and young researchers rich research experience in an exciting field,” says
Davis. “The synergy between this project and the neutrino and dark matter research
already being conducted by South Dakota Mines faculty and students at the Sanford
Underground Research Facility
in the Black Hills puts South Dakota Mines at the forefront of these exciting fields
of study.”
The
project will establish a diverse, competitive, and sustainable EPSCoR team with
increased research capacity to ensure that EPSCoR leverages a prominent role in
IceCube’s future program and NSF's Windows on the Universe theme.