News & Events
Keith McBride (UChicago)
Event Details
McDonald Institute Seminar Series
Location: Queen's: STI 401 / YouTube
Date: September 17, 2026
Time: 12:30pm - 1:30pm
Dr. Keith McBride is a associate research fellow at Universty of Chicago studying high energy particles through the HELIX experiment.
Towards Ultrahigh Energy Neutrino Detection with PUEO
Abstract:
The most energetic sites in the universe seemingly produce particles at energies beyond what current accelerators on Earth can reach. Ultrahigh-energy (UHE, >10^18 eV) cosmic rays propagate across intergalactic scales and are expected to interact and deflect, confounding our understanding of these extreme astrophysical objects. The predicted byproduct of both cosmic-ray propagation and acceleration is similarly energetic neutrinos, up to nearly ZeV energies (10^21 eV). Measuring the flux and flavor of UHE neutrinos would provide a commensurate handle on the nature of cosmic-ray sources and propagation histories. The radio technique is utilized to detect neutrinos at ultrahigh energies since they are elusive, and their flux is extremely low. I will present the design of the first flight and preliminary data from the Payload for Ultrahigh Energy Observations (PUEO), a balloon-borne array of antennas that searches for the radio signature of UHE neutrino interactions in the Antarctic ice.
The McDonald Institute seminar will be held in Stirling 401 and streamed live to the McDonald Institute YouTube channel.
A Zoom link is also available and shared via email by the organizers. Please reach out to admin@mcdonaldinstitute.ca for access.