Stefan Westerhoff

Professor

University of Wisconsin-Madison

 

Research


I am currently involved in the IceCube neutrino experiment at the South Pole, and the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) experiment.


IceCube is a particle detector at the South Pole detecting high-energy neutrinos.  IceCube searches for neutrinos from the most violent astrophysical sources: supernova remnants, gamma-ray bursts, and active galactic nuclei.  By searching for the sources of astrophysical neutrinos, we are trying to discover the unknown sources of cosmic rays.  More information on IceCube can be found here.


HAWC is a gamma-ray observatory located 4,100 m above sea level on the slope of Pico de Orizaba in Mexico.  It is a high-duty cycle, large field-of-view instrument capable of monitoring the gamma-ray sky between roughly 50 GeV and 100 TeV.  The detector is used to record both steady and transient gamma-ray sources and to provide an unbiased survey of the northern sky.  HAWC comprises 300 large light-tight water tanks arrayed over an area of 20,000 square meters.  Each tank is instrumented with four photomultipliers to detect particles from extensive air showers produced by gamma rays and cosmic rays.  Construction of HAWC was recently completed, and the official inauguration took place on March 20, 2015.  Here is an article on HAWC and the inauguration.



Department of Physics

4209 Chamberlin Hall

1150 University Avenue

Madison, WI 53706

(608) 262 3989

stefan.westerhoff@wisc.edu

Links

IceCube Detector: Main IceCube Page

and IceCube@Madison


HAWC Detector: Main HAWC Page

and HAWC@Madison



June 17, 2016