Lunar Satellite Detection of Ultra-High Energy Neutrinos with the Use of Radio Methods

Abstract

Neutrinos interact with matter only through weak processes with low cross-section. To detect cosmic neutrinos most efforts have relied on the detection of visible Vavilov-Cerenkov light in detectors embedded in the target volumes. To access the decreasing flux of ultra-high energy neutrinos, far above 1 PeV, ideas on how to increase the detection volume by observing coherent radio frequency emission caused by the Askaryan effect have been put forward. Here we describe how a satellite in lunar orbit equipped with an electromagnetic vector sensor could detect Askaryan pulses induced by neutrinos interacting with the moon. The threshold neutrino energy is found to be 50 EeV for this setup, and the sensitivity is determined from simulations. A model dependent event rate of 2.2 events per year is calculated.