School of Physics Thesis Dissertation Defense

Presenter:        Eliza Gazda

Title:                     Development of the Cherenkov Camera for the EUSO-SPB2 Mission and Analysis of Above-the-Limb Observations of Cosmic-Ray Particle Showers

Date:                    Friday, July 19, 2024

Time:                    10:00 a.m.

Location:           Pettit Electronics Building Room 1201A

Virtual Link:     https://gatech.zoom.us/j/94325305635?pwd=ZODnOGNBtV1a6p4iadCc68F8B9Wzfx.1

Committee members: 

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

Dr. Laura Cadonati, 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 are neutral, weakly interacting particles capable of traveling vast distances through space without being absorbed or deflected by magnetic fields, offering direct information about their sources. These sources are high-energy events that take place beyond our Milky Way and have the power to accelerate charged particles to energies exceeding 1 ZeV. Detecting neutrinos holds the key to understanding the distribution of gases and matter throughout the universe, the dynamics and laws governing the sources of these particles, and the particles themselves. These fundamental inquiries remain unresolved, necessitating technological advancements for detecting and observing particles at increasingly higher energies. New methods and technologies improve detection sensitivity, and as detectors increase in size and efficiency, they gather more extensive statistical data. Recent advancements in detectors and telescopes, such as IceCube have already led to detections of very high-energy (from TeV to a few PeV) neutrinos motivating further improvement in sensitivities to Ultra High Energy (UHE) neutrinos, above PeV energies.

One method for studying UHE neutrinos is with a Cherenkov detector from a balloon, satellite, or high-altitude ground observatory. A telescope positioned at high altitudes above the Earth and pointed at the Earth's horizon can utilize the Earth as part of the detector. Particles interact within the Earth, leading to the observation of air showers. In this talk, I present development work on a Cherenkov camera designed for the Extreme Universe Space Observatory (EUSO) on board the Super Pressure Balloon 2 (SPB2). The payload was deployed and flown as part of a NASA pathfinder mission on May 13^th, 2023. We operated the payload, which flew and took data for two days. Despite the mission being cut short due to a balloon leak, we recorded air-shower data, validating the functionality of the design and the experiment. This data includes images of cosmic ray air showers within the energy range of 1PeV to 100PeV. This optical Cherenkov telescope was the first of its type to operate and successfully take data at sub-orbital altitudes as a balloon payload.