Icefishing for Neutrinos

The IceCube project has transformed a cubic kilometer of natural Antarctic ice into a neutrino detector. The instrument detects more than 100,000 neutrinos per year. Among these, the highest energy neutrinos ever recorded have been discovered. While their source remains an open question, their origin must lie beyond our solar system. I will discuss the instrument, the analysis of the data, and the significance of the discovery of these cosmic neutrinos. The large cosmic neutrino flux observed implies that the Universe’s energy density in high energy neutrinos is the same as in gamma rays, suggesting that the sources are connected and that a multitude of astronomical objects await discovery.