NuRadioMC: simulating the radio emission of neutrinos from interaction to detector
Glaser, C, Daniel García-Fernández, A. Nelles, Jaime Álvarez-Muñiz, Barwick, SW, Besson, DZ, Clark, BA, A. Connolly, Cosmin Deaconu, de Vries, KD, Hanson, JC, Benjamin Hokanson-Fasig, R. Lahmann, Uzair Abdul Latif, Kleinfelder, SA, Christopher Persichilli, Y. Pan, C. Pfendner, Ilse Plaisier, D. Seckel, J. Torres, Simona Toscano, N. van Eijndhoven, A. G. Vieregg, Christoph Welling, T. Winchen, Wissel, SA
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.