High Energy Neutrino Astrophysics Panel (HENAP)

The Panel has completed its mandate and produced a report (see the following).

Its charge was as follows:

The Cerenkov detection of high-energy (>1 TeV) neutrinos in the deep sea or Antarctic ice promises to open an important new window onto the cosmos. The uncertainties in the current neutrino-rate calculations, the fragmentation of the interested community, and the high price tag of the future large size projects have raised a number of questions among scientists, funding agencies, and governments alike. Following the conclusions of the OECD MegaScience symposium of Taormina in May 1997, the Particle and Nuclear Astrophysics and Gravity International Committee of IUPAP is setting up a High Energy Neutrino Astrophysics Panel with the following charge:

• Firm up the scientific justifications: likely sources expected rates and their uncertainties, astrophysical importance of detecting such neutrinos, and connection with other astronomical observations.
• Establish the needed sensitivity and volume and examine the potential justifications for more than one site.
• Identify the needed steps to reach the required detector sensitivity, and establish the scientific milestones that should be reached by the successive generations of instruments, before proceeding to the next step.
• Define with the scientists involved the elements of comparison of the proposed technologies: performance, reliability, maintenance, cost effectiveness etc.
• Identify the opportunity for R&am p;D collaboration between the various projects.
• Define the scientific and technical criteria for the choice of site(s) for a high-energy neutrino observatory.
• Suggest international collaboration guidelines.
• Examine the potential for involvement of industry
• Explore the benefit of the facilities for other fields of science.

Reports:

http://www.iupap.org/wg/panagic/henap/final-report