Ten
years ago, the IceCube Neutrino Observatory fully opened its eyes for
the first time, the eyes that allow curious scientists to “see” signals from
passing astrophysical neutrinos: mysterious, tiny, extremely lightweight
particles created by some of the most energetic and distant phenomena in the
cosmos. IceCube is a gigantic three-dimensional detector for high energy cosmic
rays, whose origins remained unknown, after they were discovered over a century
ago.
South Dakota Mines associate
professor of physics, Xinhua Bai, Ph.D., is among the original “dreamers,” which included a few dozen
scientists, who helped start the international IceCube Collaboration. Today, the
diverse group of researchers includes over 350 scientists from 53 institutions
in 12 countries and five continents.
“I was extremely lucky to be one of the early
scientists on this collaboration. After I received my Ph.D., driven by my
curiosity, I started as a winter over scientist for the Antarctic
Muon And Neutrino Detector Array and the South Pole Air Shower Experiment in 1998.” Bai says. “These two predecessor
experiments not only proved the concept of doing astroparticle physics studies
with the ice at the South Pole but also accumulated valuable operational
experience that is essential for the success of the IceCube project.”
Bai and his team have contributed to important
breakthroughs at IceCube and were awarded a $6-million
grant from the National Science Foundation in 2020 to enhance IceCube’s big
data processing and astronomical capabilities.
IceCube has two components, a surface array called
IceTop and an in-ice array consisting of a hexagonal grid of sensors embedded
in a cubic kilometer of ice about a mile below the surface of the Antarctic ice
sheet at the South Pole. The construction of the IceCube Neutrino Observatory
was a nearly decade-long endeavor by dozens of intrepid technicians, engineers,
and scientists who had traveled to the South Pole—one of the coldest, driest,
and most isolated places on Earth—to build the biggest, strangest telescope in
the world. Crews drilled 86 holes nearly two-and-a-half kilometers deep and
lowered a cable strung with 60 basketball-sized light detectors into each hole.
In the meantime, it was also a fun endeavor. Despite ten thousand miles away
from home, hardworking and fun-loving IceCubers, for example, figured out a way
to bring one of their comforts from home to the Pole by setting up a golf
course and driving range.
Since IceCube began its full operation on May 13,
2011, IceCube has been watching the cosmos and collecting data continuously for
a decade. The high-quality data supports multidisciplinary research by
scientists from all over the world. In 2013 the collaboration announced the
first evidence for neutrinos from outside our galaxy with the detection of
two very
energetic neutrino events and, soon after, the observation of 26
additional very high energy events. Since then, we’ve seen more astrophysical
neutrinos and have made strides in the fields of neutrino physics,
astrophysics, and multi messenger astronomy. From pinpointing potential neutrino
sources to the recent detection of a Glashow
resonance event, IceCube has proven again and again the value of
capturing perhaps the most elusive particles in the universe. The success has
led to the growing cohort of scientists using state of the art techniques to
analyze IceCube data.
IceCube is also an excellent project that inspires
the next generation of physicists by bringing education and outreach activities
to people of all ages and backgrounds. The unusual instrument continues to
expand its science reach by providing junior researchers and graduate students
with rich data for the study of neutrino properties, dark matter, cosmic rays,
and fundamental physics. “IceCube has shown us only the very beginning of what
it will become. There is much work for us to do, many dreams for graduate
students like me to achieve,” said Ms. Diana Leon Silverio, Ph.D. student in
the Physics Department at the South Dakota Mines. “I am grateful to have the
opportunity to work with so many wonderful scientists on such an amazing
experiment.”
In the last decade, IceCube have also produced a web comic and
translated it into 10 languages, created IceCube-themed arts and crafts, hosted
countless South Pole webinars, supported
multiple artinstallations, brought educators to the South
Pole, and much more. More and more K-12 students are inspired by these
educational efforts, including those in the Black Hills region in South Dakota
and Wyoming. IceCube
MasterClass in particular, gives high school students their first glimpse of how
scientists formulate questions, design experiments, and analyze data to understand
the universe and its minutest constituents. “IceCube, and the yearly
masterclass, have given my Advanced Placement Physics students a platform to
become exposed to the cutting edge of scientific research,” said
Dr. Andrew W. Smith, Science Teacher at the Stevens High School,
Rapid City, SD. “The experiment, it's remote location, state-of-the art
detectors, diverse team, and profound mission to better understand the
foundational building blocks of our world draws them in and encourages them to
deepen their foundational skill set so that they too may one day pursue a
career in research.”
There is also much to look forward to in IceCube’s
bright future. Though the pandemic has slightly altered the timeline, the
National Science Foundation has provided funding for the next stage of our
South Pole detector, the IceCube
Upgrade, which will pave the way to the proposed larger, high-energy extension, IceCube-Gen2. SDM has been
an associate member of IceCube since 2010 and a full member since 2014. The new
NSF IceCube EPSCoR
Initiative (IEI) Track-2 project will increase our research capacity at South Dakota
Mines and five other universities in EPSCoR jurisdictions so that we can establish
a more capable and diverse team to produce more science results with IceCube
data and continue contributing to both the Upgrade and Gen2.
“I’m excited to be part of SDM community of
extraordinary scientists,” said Matthias Plum, Ph.D. and newly hired assistant
professor in the Physics Department at SDM. “I am ready to extend my science
analysis and participate in the development and construction of the IceCube-Gen2,
which hopefully will lead to more discoveries in the cosmic frontiers.”
To celebrate this milestone with us, keep an eye on
our website and social media profiles—we’re on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube—and follow
the hashtag #IceCube10. Over the
next five months leading up to our fall collaboration meeting in September, we
will share highlights from the past decade—and earlier!