School of Physics Thesis Dissertation Defense

Presenter:        Oscar Romero

Title:                     Probing Physics Beyond the Standard Model: Searching for Anita Anomalous events with EUSO-SPB2

Date:                    Monday, July 22, 2024

Time:                    12:00 p.m.   

Location:           Howey Physics Building, N110

Virtual Link:     https://gatech.zoom.us/j/99330906457?pwd=JJ1llUVQgsFEWtsal1lRLb3vTi5KMG.1

Committee members: 

Dr. Nepomuk Otte, School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology (advisor)

Dr. Flavio Fenton, School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology 

Dr. Ignacio Taboada, School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology 

Dr. John Wise, School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology

Dr. Sven Simon, School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology  

Abstract:

Neutrinos in the Very-High Energy (VHE) range (>10 PeV) and Ultra-High Energy (UHE) range (>EeV) have not been detected. In the past decade, multiple neutrino observatories have been proposed and developed. This has been driven by the discovery of astrophysical neutrinos by the IceCube Observatory and the potential identification of their sources.  The Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna (ANITA) monitors the Antarctic ice in search of neutrinos using the Askaryan effect. During their 4th flight, they reported anomalous observations. The number of events consistent with upward-going extended air showers observed predicts a flux in tension with non-detection by IceCube, opening the possibility of Beyond Standard Model Physics. Using EUSO-SPB2, we attempt to follow up on these observations using an alternate channel: Cherenkov emission from extended air showers using the neutrino Earth skimming technique. This extends the observation of neutrinos at the VHE and UHE ranges, would enable exploring the most energetic processes in the Universe, testing the limits of the Standard Model, and potentially providing evidence related to the nature of Dark Matter.