Kyler Kuehn
Ohio State University
 

"Multi-Messenger Astronomy with the IceCube Neutrino Observatory"
 

Since the advent of the optical telescope 400 years ago, photon observations have given us an enormous amount of insight into the nature of the universe and the details of its functioning.  Observations of cosmic rays such as protons, nuclei, and neutrinos provide an intriguing "window" onto the universe that is distinct from, but quite complementary to, what can be achieved with photon observations.  The IceCube Neutrino Observatory, installed at the South Pole and using the Antarctic ice sheet as a medium for the detection of neutrinos and other cosmic rays, is one instrument that is capable of peering through this "window".

I will discuss the method of neutrino detection employed by IceCube, as well as some of the results from its first several years of operation.  In particular, I will highlight the neutrino searches correlated with photon observations of cosmic accelerators such as GRBs and AGNs.  I will conclude with a brief overview of the possible breakthroughs in our understanding of fundamental physics (Dark Matter identification, Lorentz invariance violation) that could make neutrino telescopes such as IceCube as revolutionary as Galileo's first telescope.