Eur. Phys. J. C (2020) 80: 77
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-020-7612-8

Special Article – Tools for Experiment and Theory

NuRadioMC: simulating the radio emission of neutrinos from interaction to detector

¹ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Irvine, CA, 92697, USA
² DESY, Platanenallee 6, 15738, Zeuthen, Germany
³ Erlangen Centre for Astroparticle Physics, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, 91058, Erlangen, Germany
⁴ IGFAE, Depto. de Física de Partículas, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
⁵ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Kansas, Lawrence, USA
⁶ Department of Physics and Center for Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, USA
⁷ Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, University of Chicago, Chicago, USA
⁸ Vrije Universiteit Brussels, Brussels, Belgium
⁹ Department of Physics, Whittier College, Whittier, CA, USA
¹⁰ Department of Physics and Wisconsin IceCube Particle Astrophysics Center, University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA
¹¹ Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of California, Irvine, CA, 92697, USA
¹² Department of Physics and Astronomy, Bartol Research Institute, University of Delaware, Newark, USA
¹³ Otterbein University, Westerville, OH, USA
¹⁴ Université Libre, Brussels, Belgium
¹⁵ Max-Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, Bonn, Germany
¹⁶ Physics Department, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA, 93407, USA

^* e-mail: christian.glaser@uci.edu

Received: 3 June 2019
Accepted: 5 January 2020
Published online: 31 January 2020

Abstract

NuRadioMC is a Monte Carlo framework designed to simulate ultra-high energy neutrino detectors that rely on the radio detection method. This method exploits the radio emission generated in the electromagnetic component of a particle shower following a neutrino interaction. NuRadioMC simulates everything from the neutrino interaction in a medium, the subsequent Askaryan radio emission, the propagation of the radio signal to the detector and finally the detector response. NuRadioMC is designed as a modern, modular Python-based framework, combining flexibility in detector design with user-friendliness. It includes a state-of-the-art event generator, an improved modelling of the radio emission, a revisited approach to signal propagation and increased flexibility and precision in the detector simulation. This paper focuses on the implemented physics processes and their implications for detector design. A variety of models and parameterizations for the radio emission of neutrino-induced showers are compared and reviewed. Comprehensive examples are used to discuss the capabilities of the code and different aspects of instrumental design decisions.