Ponente
Descripción
The IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the geographic South Pole has achieved key milestones in neutrino astrophysics, including the discovery of a high-energy astrophysical neutrino flux and the correlation of neutrinos with flaring blazars and Seyfert galaxies. Building on this success, the IceCube Upgrade is scheduled for completion during the 2025/26 Antarctic summer season. It will add seven new strings of densely packed optical sensors, primarily near the bottom of the detector, significantly improving event reconstruction and the selection efficiency of atmospheric neutrinos down to a few GeV. This will provide a unique opportunity to access neutrino oscillations and high-precision measurements of tau neutrino appearance. The Upgrade’s extensive associated calibration program will enhance our understanding of the glacial ice’s optical properties and detector response, thereby improving the angular resolution of neutrino events. These improvements will further benefit IceCube’s archival data once they are retroactively applied. In addition to its immediate scientific goals, the Upgrade lays critical groundwork for IceCube-Gen2 by expanding our knowledge of glacial ice and enabling in situ studies of over ten Gen2 optical module prototypes. IceCube-Gen2 aims to increase the instrumented volume to approximately 8 cubic kilometers of optical array, while also incorporating an expanded surface detector array and radio antennas.
This contribution will present the status of the IceCube Upgrade ahead of the upcoming construction season, with a special focus on the calibration program and its foundational role in the Gen2 effort. Updates on IceCube-Gen2 will also be provided, highlighting the design and performance of the optical module arrays that will drive the next generation of discoveries in neutrino astrophysics.
