Q. In the context of modern scientific research, consider the following statements about ‘lceCube’, a particle detector located at South Pole, which was recently in the news:

  1. It is the world’s largest neutrino detector, encompassing a cubic kilometre of ice.
  2. It is a powerful telescope to search for dark matter.
  3. It is buries deep in the ice.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  • 1 only
  • 2 and 3 only
  • 1 and 3 only
  • 1, 2 and 3

Answer: (d) 1, 2 and 3

IceCube Neutrino Observatory
  • The IceCube Neutrino Observatory (or simply IceCube) is a neutrino observatory constructed at the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station in Antarctica. The project is a recognized CERN experiment (RE10). Its thousands of sensors are located under the Antarctic ice, distributed over a cubic kilometre.
  • Similar to its predecessor, the Antarctic Muon And Neutrino Detector Array (AMANDA), IceCube consists of spherical optical sensors called Digital Optical Modules (DOMs), each with a photomultiplier tube (PMT) and a single-board data acquisition computer which sends digital data to the counting house on the surface above the array. IceCube was completed on 18 December 2010.
  • DOMs are deployed on strings of 60 modules each at depths between 1,450 and 2,450 meters into holes melted in the ice using a hot water drill. IceCube is designed to look for point sources of neutrinos in the teraelectronvolt (TeV) range to explore the highest-energy astrophysical processes.
  • IceCube is part of a series of projects developed and supervised by the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
  • The Antarctic neutrino observatory, which also includes the surface array IceTop and the dense infill array DeepCore, was designed as a multipurpose experiment.
  • IceCube collaborators address several big questions in physics, like the nature of dark matter and the properties of the neutrino itself.
  • IceCube also observes cosmic rays that interact with the Earth’s atmosphere, which have revealed fascinating structures that are not presently understood.
  • Exciting new research conducted by the collaboration is opening a new window for exploring our universe.