Physics and Astronomy Colloquium
                    Tuesday, February 12, 2002
           4:10 pm, Room 118 Physics-Astronomy Building

            (Student Informal Meeting from 3:15-3:45pm in
                Room 224 Physics-Astronomy Building)


      HIGH ENERGY NEUTRINO ASTRONOMY: RESULTS FROM THE SOUTH POLE

                          Francis Halzen
                 University of Wisconsin-Madison

We will review the scientific case for neutrino astronomy. It has 
been made since the 1950's by pioneers who realized that, of all 
high-energy particles, only neutrinos can directly convey 
astrophysical information from the edge of the Universe and from deep 
inside its most cataclysmic high-energy regions near black holes. 
With the Antarctic Muon And Neutrino Detector Array (AMANDA), we have 
performed the first scans of the sky using neutrinos of TeV-energy 
and above as cosmic messengers. We have searched with improved 
sensitivity for magnetic monopoles, cold dark matter and TeV-scale 
gravity. Most importantly, by observing neutrinos produced by cosmic 
rays in the Earth's atmosphere, we present a proof of concept for an 
expandable technology with which to build the ultimate 
kilometer-scale neutrino observatory, IceCube.