IceCube Gen2

IceCube-Gen2, a ten-cubic-kilometer detector

The incredible clarity of the Antarctic glacier, revealed by the construction and operation of IceCube, will allow the spacing between light sensors to exceed 250 meters, instead of the current 125 meters in IceCube. The deployment of sensors on strings with larger spacings will enable the IceCube-Gen2 instrumented volume to rapidly grow at modest costs.

A possible IceCube-Gen2 configuration. IceCube, in red, and the infill subdetector DeepCore, in green, show the current configuration. The blue volume shows the full instrumented next-generation detector.

IceCube-Gen2 will benefit from the successful designs of the hot water drill systems and the digital optical modules in the original IceCube project. Minimal modifications will target improvements focused on modernization, efficiency, and cost savings. Because of its digital architecture, the next-generation facility can be operated without a significant increase in costs.

By roughly doubling the instrumentation already deployed, the telescope will achieve a tenfold increase in volume to about 10 cubic kilometers, aiming at an order of magnitude increase in neutrino detection rates. IceCube-Gen2 will provide an unprecedented view of the high-energy universe, taking neutrino astronomy to new levels of discovery.

Neutrino astronomy will be only one topic in the rich science program of a next-generation neutrino observatory. Besides studying the properties of cosmic rays and searching for signatures of neutrino physics beyond the Standard Model, this world-class, multipurpose detector will remain a discovery instrument for unanticipated physics and astrophysics. The observation of a supernova in our galactic neighborhood in coincidence with astronomical and gravitational wave instruments would be the astronomical event of the century.