Astrophysics Seminar
Exploring the Universe through Radio Observations: UHE Neutrinos, Cosmic Rays, and Technosignatures
Speaker: Dr. Paramita Dasgupta (CCAPP, The Ohio State University)
Radio observations provide a unique window into the high-energy Universe, as radio signals can traverse vast distances with minimal attenuation. The Askaryan Radio Array (ARA) at the South Pole and the balloon-borne NASA Payload for Ultrahigh Energy Observations (PUEO) aim to detect impulsive radio signals from ultra-high-energy (UHE, >10¹⁶ eV) neutrinos, while a proposed radio expansion of the GRAPES-3 experiment in Ooty, India, targets radio signals from extensive air showers produced by high energy cosmic rays.
Advanced machine-learning tools enhance event classification and sensitivity to rare signals across these experiments, and analysis pipelines developed for UHE neutrino studies are being adapted for radio technosignature searches, addressing “needle-in-a-haystack” challenges. I will present ongoing and planned searches with the ARA, PUEO, and GRAPES-3 radio array, highlighting how modern detector systems and analysis techniques advance both high energy multi-messenger astrophysics and exploratory radio technosignature studies.