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Observation of In-Ice Askaryan Radiation from High-Energy Cosmic Rays

N. Alden1,*, S. Ali2, P. Allison3, S. Archambault4, J. J. Beatty3, D. Z. Besson2, A. Bishop5, P. Chen6, Y. C. Chen6 et al. (ARA Collaboration)

Y. C. Chen6, Y.-C. Chen6, S. Chiche7, B. A. Clark8, A. Connolly3, K. Couberly2, L. Cremonesi9, A. Cummings10,11,12, P. Dasgupta3, R. Debolt3, S. de Kockere13, K. D. de Vries13, C. Deaconu1, M. A. DuVernois5, J. Flaherty3, E. Friedman8, R. Gaior4, P. Giri14, J. Hanson15, N. Harty16, K. D. Hoffman8, M.-H. Huang6,17, K. Hughes3, A. Ishihara4, A. Karle5, J. L. Kelley5, K.-C. Kim8, M.-C. Kim4, I. Kravchenko14, R. Krebs10,11, C. Y. Kuo6, K. Kurusu4, U. A. Latif13, C. H. Liu14, T. C. Liu6,18, W. Luszczak3, A. Machtay3, K. Mase4, M. S. Muzio5,10,11,12, J. Nam6, R. J. Nichol9, A. Novikov16, A. Nozdrina3, E. Oberla1, C. W. Pai6, Y. Pan16, C. Pfendner19, N. Punsuebsay16, J. Roth16, A. Salcedo-Gomez3, D. Seckel16, M. F. H. Seikh2, Y.-S. Shiao6,20, J. Stethem3, S. C. Su6, S. Toscano7, J. Torres3, J. Touart8, N. van Eijndhoven13, A. Vieregg1, M. Vilarino Fostier7, M.-Z. Wang6, S.-H. Wang6, P. Windischhofer1,†, S. A. Wissel10,11,12, C. Xie9, S. Yoshida4, and R. Young2 (ARA Collaboration)

  • 1Department of Physics, Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Enrico Fermi Institute, Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA
  • 2Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66045, USA
  • 3Department of Physics, Center for Cosmology and AstroParticle Physics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA
  • 4Department of Physics, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan
  • 5Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA
  • 6Department of Physics, Graduate Institute of Astrophysics, Leung Center for Cosmology and Particle Astrophysics, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
  • 7Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Science Faculty CP230, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium
  • 8Department of Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA
  • 9Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, London, United Kingdom
  • 10Center for Multi-Messenger Astrophysics, Institute for Gravitation and the Cosmos, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA
  • 11Department of Physics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA
  • 12Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA
  • 13Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
  • 14Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska 68588, USA
  • 15Department Physics and Astronomy, Whittier College, Whittier, California 90602, USA
  • 16Department of Physics, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware 19716, USA
  • 17Department of Energy Engineering, National United University, Miaoli, Taiwan
  • 18Department of Applied Physics, National Pingtung University, Pingtung City, Pingtung County 900393, Taiwan
  • 19Department of Physics and Astronomy, Denison University, Granville, Ohio 43023, USA
  • 20National Nano Device Laboratories, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan

  • *Contact author: nalden@uchicago.edu
  • †Contact author: windischhofer@uchicago.edu

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 151003 – Published 17 April, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/xwqy-yzrk

Abstract

We present the first experimental evidence for in-ice Askaryan radiation—coherent charge-excess radio emission—from high-energy particle cascades developing in the Antarctic ice sheet. In 208 days of data recorded with the phased array instrument of the Askaryan Radio Array, a previous analysis has incidentally identified 13 events with impulsive radio frequency signals originating from below the ice surface. We here present a detailed reanalysis of these events. The observed event rate, radiation arrival directions, signal shape, spectral content, and electric field polarization are consistent with in-ice Askaryan radiation from cosmic ray air shower cores impacting the ice sheet. For the brightest events, the angular radiation pattern favors an extended cascadelike emitter over a pointlike source. An origin from the geomagnetic separation of charges in cosmic ray air showers is disfavored by the arrival directions and polarization. Considering the arrival angles, timing properties, and impulsive nature of the passing events, the event rate is inconsistent with the estimation of the combined background from thermal noise events and on-surface events at the level of 5.1σ.

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Focus

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Published 17 April, 2026

A South Pole neutrino experiment has measured radio waves induced by cosmic rays—thus demonstrating that its detection method works.

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