Development of an acoustic transceiver for the KM3NeT positioning system

[EN] In this paper we describe an acoustic transceiver developed for the KM3NeT positioning system. The acoustic transceiver is composed of a commercial free flooded transducer, which works mainly in the 20-40 kHz frequency range and withstands high pressures (up to 500 bars). A sound emission board was developed that is adapted to the characteristics of the transducer and meets all requirements: low power consumption, high intensity of emission, low intrinsic noise, arbitrary signals for emission and the capacity of acquiring the receiving signals with very good timing precision. The results of the different tests made with the transceiver in the laboratory and shallow sea water are described, as well as, the activities for its integration in the Instrumentation Line of the ANTARES neutrino telescope and in a NEMO tower for the in situ tests. © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.This work has been supported by the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion (Spanish Government), Project references FPA2009-13983-C02-02, ACI2009-1067, AIC10-D-00583, and Consolider-Ingenio Multidark (CSD2009-00064). It has also been funded by Generalitat Valenciana, Prometeo/2009/26, and the European 7th Framework Programme, Grant no. 212525.Larosa, G.; Ardid Ramírez, M.; Llorens Alvarez, CD.; Bou Cabo, M.; Martínez Mora, JA.; Adrián Martínez, S.; KM3NeT Consortium (2013). Development of an acoustic transceiver for the KM3NeT positioning system. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment. 725:215-218. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2012.11.167S21521872

A compact array calibrator to study the feasibility of acoustic neutrino detection

[EN] Underwater acoustic detection of ultra-high-energy neutrinos was proposed already in 1950s: when a neutrino interacts with a nucleus in water, the resulting particle cascade produces a pressure pulse that has a bipolar temporal structure and propagates within a flat disk-like volume. A telescope that consists of thousands of acoustic sensors deployed in the deep sea can monitor hundreds of cubic kilometres of water looking for these signals and discriminating them from acoustic noise. To study the feasibility of the technique it is critical to have a calibrator able to mimic the neutrino signature that can be operated from a vessel. Due to the axial-symmetry of the signal, their very directive short bipolar shape and the constraints of operating at sea, the development of such a calibrator is very challenging. Once the possibility of using the acoustic parametric technique for this aim was validated with the first compact array calibrator prototype, in this paper we describe the new design for such a calibrator composed of an array of piezo ceramic tube transducers emitting in axial direction.We acknowledge the financial support of the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Grants FPA2012-37528-C02-02, and Consolider MultiDark CSD2009-00064, of the Generalitat Valenciana, Grants ACOMP/2015/175 PrometeoII/2014/079 and of the European FEDER funds.Ardid Ramírez, M.; Camarena Femenia, F.; Felis-Enguix, I.; Herrero Debón, A.; Llorens Alvarez, CD.; Martínez Mora, JA.; Saldaña-Coscollar, M. (2016). A compact array calibrator to study the feasibility of acoustic neutrino detection. EPJ Web of Conferences. 116(03001):1-4. https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/201611603001S141160300

A compact acoustic calibrator for ultra-high energy neutrino detection

With the aim to optimize and test the method of acoustic detection of ultra-high energy neutrinos in underwater telescopes a compact acoustic transmitter array has been developed. The acoustic parametric effect is used to reproduce the acoustic signature of an ultra-high-energy neutrino interaction. Different R&D studies are presented in order to show the viability of the parametric sources technique to deal with the difficulties of the acoustic signal generation: a very directive transient bipolar signal with 'pancake' directivity. The design, construction and characterization of the prototype are described, including simulation of the propagation of an experimental signal, measured in a pool, over a distance of 1 km. Following these studies, next steps will be testing the device in situ, in underwater neutrino telescope, or from a vessel in a sea campaign. (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.This work has been supported by the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion (Spanish Government), project references FPA2009-13983-C02-02, ACI2009-1067, Consolider-Ingenio Multidark (CSD2009-00064). It has also been funded by Generalitat Valenciana, Prometeo/2009/26.Adrián Martínez, S.; Ardid Ramírez, M.; Bou Cabo, M.; Larosa, G.; Llorens Alvarez, CD.; Martínez Mora, JA. (2013). A compact acoustic calibrator for ultra-high energy neutrino detection. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment. 725:219-222. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2012.11.142S21922272

Experimental and theoretical investigation of chiral separation by crystallisation

Chiral molecules often show different pharmacological and toxicological properties, making their separation crucial for pharmaceutical companies. The resolution of racemic mixtures is often achieved via crystallisation methods. The lack of experimental data has been a major constraint in validating proposed computational methods for aiding the design of crystallisation processes for chiral resolution. This thesis provides both structural and thermodynamic data, and uses it to assess the limitations of current computer modelling methods. Progress in computational methods might eventually result in the design of resolving agents and hence reduce production costs of drugs and fine chemicals. Previous studies of naproxen have concentrated on the marketed enantiopure form of this anti-inflammatory drug. A crystallisation screen was conducted to identify all possible crystal phases of racemic and enantiopure naproxen. No polymorphs were detected and the crystal structure of the racemic compound was solved from powder X-ray diffraction data. The nature of the racemic species was confirmed with thermal methods, and differential scanning calorimetric and solubility measurements were used to estimate the enthalpy difference between the crystals at 156 °C and in the range of 10 to 40 °C. These data were used to test the different approximations involved in determining the energy differences between the racemic and enantiopure crystals. An extensive crystallisation screen was also performed for (1R,2S)-ephedrine 2-phenylpropionate salts. The crystal structure of the least soluble salt and three polymorphs of the most soluble salt were determined by low temperature single crystal X-ray diffraction or powder X-ray diffraction. Solubility measurements and differential scanning calorimetry were used to determine the relative stability of the salt pairs and polymorphs. These results showed the inadequacies of lattice energy calculations of the diastereomeric salt pair and their polymorphs. Experimental work on related diastereomeric salt pairs emphasised the difficulty in fully structurally and thermodynamically characterising these systems

Development of Combined Opto-Acoustical Sensor Modules

The faint fluxes of cosmic neutrinos expected at very high energies require large instrumented detector volumes. The necessary volumes in combination with a sufficient shielding against background constitute forbidding and complex environments (e.g. the deep sea) as sites for neutrino telescopes. To withstand these environments and to assure the data quality, the sensors have to be reliable and their operation has to be as simple as possible. A compact sensor module design including all necessary components for data acquisition and module calibration would simplify the detector mechanics and ensures the long term operability of the detector. The compact design discussed here combines optical and acoustical sensors inside one module, therefore reducing electronics and additional external instruments for calibration purposes. In this design the acoustical sensor is primary used for acoustic positioning of the module. The module may also be used for acoustic particle detection and marine science if an appropriate acoustical sensor is chosen. First tests of this design are promising concerning the task of calibration. To expand the field of application also towards acoustic particle detection further improvements concerning electromagnetic shielding and adaptation of the single components are necessary.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, ARENA2010 proceeding

Neutrinos from Cosmic Ray Interactions in the Sun as background for dark matter searches

[EN] Neutrino telescopes have been proposed as efficient tools for indirect dark matter searches, especially using the Sun as source for its good capability to capture dark matter and since we do not expect high-energy neutrinos from it. However, the last statement should be taken with caution because high-energy neutrinos may come from cosmic particle interactions in the atmosphere of the Sun and producing neutrinos. In this work, we describe an analysis of the ANTARES neutrino telescope optimised for the observation of neutrinos coming from the atmosphere of the Sun due to cosmic particles interactions. Focusing in the 10 GeV - 10 TeV energy range and using 2007-2012 data, the sensitivity obtained for the flux is approximately 1012 km-2 y -1 , whereas the expected flux is two order of magnitudes below. From this, we can conclude that present high-energy neutrino telescopes dark matter searches in the Sun can indeed neglect this contribution, but could play a role in future detectors with better neutrino flux sensitivities in the 10 GeV - 10 TeV energy range and very good angular resolution.We acknowledge the financial support of Plan Estatal de Investigación, ref. FPA2015-65150-C3-1-Pand ref. FPA2015-65150-C3-2-P (MINECO/FEDER), Consolider MultiDark CSD2009-00064 (MINECO) and of the Generalitat Valenciana, Grant PrometeoII/2014/079.Ardid Ramírez, M.; Felis-Enguix, I.; Lotze, M.; Tönnis, C. (2018). Neutrinos from Cosmic Ray Interactions in the Sun as background for dark matter searches. PoS. Proceedings of Science. 301:1-8. https://doi.org/10.22323/1.301.0907S1830

Ultrasonic transmitter for positioning of the large underwater neutrino telescope KM3NeT

This article belongs to a special issue: 43rd Annual UIA Symposium 23—25 April 2014 CSIC Madrid, Spain. Edited By Margaret Lucas and Enrique Riera[EN] Underwater ultrasonic transducers are commonly used for marine applications including communication and positioning systems. In this work, an ultrasonic transmitter transducer developed for the very large underwater neutrino telescope KM3NeT positioning is presented. The telescope infrastructure will have some degree of motion due to sea current; hence a positioning system is needed in order to monitor the position of the optical sensors. For this purpose, a reliable and affordable positioning based on acoustic systems is used. The ultrasound transmitter prototype developed as part of the positioning system is composed of a commercial FFR transducer and specifically designed electronics to optimize the system and fulfil the requirements of the KM3NeT infrastructure. The transmitter is able to generate high-power short signals with arbitrary waveform in a range of 20 kHz - 40 kHz and withstand high pressures. Signal processing techniques such as advanced cross-correlation methods and filtering as well as broad-band ultrasound signals are also applied for optimizing the acoustic emission and position detection. The work done for a precise laboratory testing and optimization of the system is described. The prototype has been integrated in the ANTARES neutrino telescope for testing its accuracy and the reach in situ. The test results obtained are also presented in this communication.This work has been supported by the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (Spanish Government), project ref. FPA2012-37528-C02-02, Multidark (CSD2009-00064) and the European 7th Framework Programme, Grant no. 212525.Saldaña Coscollar, M.; Adrián Martínez, S.; Bou Cabo, M.; Felis Enguix, I.; Larosa, G.; Llorens Alvarez, CD.; Martínez Mora, JA.... (2015). Ultrasonic transmitter for positioning of the large underwater neutrino telescope KM3NeT. Physics Procedia. 63:195-200. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.phpro.2015.03.032S1952006

Probing invisible neutrino decay with KM3NeT/ORCA

In the era of precision measurements of the neutrino oscillation parameters, upcoming neutrino experiments will also be sensitive to physics beyond the Standard Model. KM3NeT/ORCA is a neutrino detector optimised for measuring atmospheric neutrinos from a few GeV to around 100 GeV. In this paper, the sensitivity of the KM3NeT/ORCA detector to neutrino decay has been explored. A three-flavour neutrino oscillation scenario, where the third neutrino mass state ¿3 decays into an invisible state, e.g. a sterile neutrino, is considered. We find that KM3NeT/ORCA would be sensitive to invisible neutrino decays with 1/a3 = t3/m3 < 180 ps/eV at 90% confidence level, assuming true normal ordering. Finally, the impact of neutrino decay on the precision of KM3NeT/ORCA measurements for ¿23, ¿m231 and mass ordering have been studied. No significant effect of neutrino decay on the sensitivity to these measurements has been found.Article signat per 255 autors i autores: S. Aiello, A. Albert, S. Alves Garre, Z. Aly, A. Ambrosone, F. Ameli, M. Andre, M. Anghinolfi, M. Anguita, M. Ardid, S. Ardid, J. Aublin, C. Bagatelas, L. Bailly-Salins, B. Baret, S. Basegmez du Pree, Y. Becherini, M. Bendahman, F. Benfenati, E. Berbee, V. Bertin, S. Biagi, M. Boettcher, M. Bou Cabo, J. Boumaaza, M. Bouta, M. Bouwhuis, C. Bozza, H.Brânzaş, R. Bruijn, J. Brunner, R. Bruno, E. Buis, R. Buompane, J. Busto, B. Caiffi, D. Calvo, S. Campion, A. Capone, F. Carenini, V. Carretero, P. Castaldi, S. Celli, L. Cerisy, M. Chabab, N. Chau, A. Chen, R. Cherkaoui El Moursli, S. Cherubini, V. Chiarella, T. Chiarusi, M. Circella, R. Cocimano, J. A. B. Coelho, A. Coleiro, R. Coniglione, P. Coyle, A. Creusot, A. Cruz, G. Cuttone, R. Dallier, Y. Darras, A. De Benedittis, B. De Martino, V. Decoene, R. Del Burgo, I. Di Palma, A. F. Díaz, D. Diego-Tortosa, C. Distefano, A. Domi, C. Donzaud, D. Dornic, M. Dörr, E. Drakopoulou, D. Drouhin, T. Eberl, A. Eddyamoui, T. van Eeden, M. Eff, D. van Eijk, I. El Bojaddaini, S. El Hedri, A. Enzenhöfer, V. Espinosa, G. Ferrara, M. D. Filipović, F. Filippini, L. A. Fusco, J. Gabriel, T. Gal, J. García Méndez, A. Garcia Soto, F. Garufi, C. Gatius Oliver, N. Geißelbrecht, L. Gialanella, E. Giorgio, A. Girardi , I. Goos, S. R. Gozzini, R. Gracia, K. Graf, D. Guderian, C. Guidi, B. Guillon, M. Gutiérrez, L. Haegel, H. van Haren, A. Heijboer, A. Hekalo, L. Hennig, J. J. Hernández-Rey, F. Huang, W. Idrissi Ibnsalih, G. Illuminati, C. W. James, D. Janezashvili, M. de Jong, P. de Jong, B. J. Jung, P. Kalaczyński, O. Kalekin, U. F. Katz, N. R. Khan Chowdhury, G. Kistauri, F. van der Knaap, P. Kooijman, A. Kouchner, V. Kulikovskiy, M. Labalme, R. Lahmann, A. Lakhal, M. Lamoureux, G. Larosa, C. Lastoria, A. Lazo, R. Le Breton, S. Le Stum, G. Lehaut, E. Leonora, N. Lessing, G. Levi, S. Liang, M. Lindsey Clark, F. Longhitano, L. Maderer, J. Majumdar, J. Mańczak, A. Margiotta, A. Marinelli, C. Markou, L. Martin, J. A. Martìnez-Mora, A. Martini, F. Marzaioli, M. Mastrodicasa, S. Mastroianni, K. W. Melis, S. Miccichè, G. Miele, P. Migliozzi, E. Migneco, P. Mijakowski, C. M. Mollo, L. Morales-Gallegos, C. Morley-Wong, A. Moussa, R. Muller, M. R. Musone, M. Musumeci, L. Nauta, S. Navas, C. A. Nicolau, B. Nkosi, B. Ó Fearraigh, A. Orlando, E. Oukacha, J. Palacios González, G. Papalashvili, R. Papaleo, E.J. Pastor Gomez, A. M. Păun, G. E. Păvălaş, C. Pellegrino, S. Peña Martínez, M. Perrin-Terrin, J. Perronnel, V. Pestel, P. Piattelli, O. Pisanti, C. Poirè, V. Popa, T. Pradier, S. Pulvirenti, G. Quéméner, U. Rahaman, N. Randazzo, S. Razzaque, I. C. Rea, D. Real, S. Reck, G. Riccobene, J. Robinson, A. Romanov, F. Salesa Greus, D. F. E. Samtleben, A. Sánchez Losa, M. Sanguineti, C. Santonastaso, D. Santonocito, P. Sapienza, A. Sathe, J. Schnabel, M. F. Schneider, J. Schumann, H. M. Schutte, J. Seneca, I. Sgura, R. Shanidze, A. Sharma, A. Simonelli, A. Sinopoulou, M.V. Smirnov, B. Spisso, M. Spurio, D. Stavropoulos, S. M. Stellacci, M. Taiuti, K. Tavzarashvili, Y. Tayalati, H. Tedjditi, T. Thakore, H. Thiersen, S. Tsagkli, V. Tsourapis, E. Tzamariudaki, V. Van Elewyck, G. Vannoye, G. Vasileiadis, F. Versari, S. Viola, D. Vivolo, H. Warnhofer, J. Wilms, E. de Wolf, H. Yepes-Ramirez, T. Yousfi, S. Zavatarelli, A. Zegarelli, D. Zito, J. D. Zornoza, J. Zúñiga, N. ZywuckaPostprint (published version

First neutrino oscillation measurement in KM3NeT/ORCA

The KM3NeT/ORCA is a next-generation neutrino detector currently under construction in the Mediterranean Sea. There are currently 6 Detection Units deployed, and in the past year the detector has been steadily taking data. Here the first neutrino oscillation measurement is presented using data taken with the ORCA detector 6 Detection Units, containing 354.6 days of exposure. Selection criteria are discussed, followed by a neutrino oscillation analysis.Article signat per 276 autors/es: A. Albert, S. Alves, M. André, M. Anghinolfi, G. Anton, M. Ardid, S. Ardid, J.-J. Aubert, J. Aublin, B. Baret, S. Basa,B. Belhorma, B. Belhorma, M. Bendahman, V. Bertin, S. Biagi, M. Bissinger, J. Boumaaza, M. Bouta, M.C. Bouwhuis, H. Brânzas, R. Bruijn, J. Brunner, J. Busto, B. Caiffi, A. Capone, L. Caramete, J. Carr, V. Carretero, S. Celli, M. Chabab,T. N. Chau, R. Cherkaoui El Moursli, T. Chiarusi, M. Circella, A. Coleiro, M. Colomer-Molla, R. Coniglione, P. Coyle, A. Creusot, A. F. Díaz, G. de Wasseige, A. Deschamps, C. Distefano, I. Di Palma, A. Domi, C. Donzaud, D. Dornic, D. Drouhin, T. Eberl, T. van Eeden, D. van Eijk, N. El Khayati, A. Enzenhöfer, P. Fermani, G. Ferrara, F. Filippini, L.A. Fusco, Y. Gatelet, P. Gay, H. Glotin, R. Gozzini, R. Gracia Ruiz, K. Graf, C. Guidi, S. Hallmann, H. van Haren, A.J. Heijboer, Y. Hello, J.J. Hernández-Rey, J. Hößl, J. Hofestädt, F. Huang, G. Illuminati, C.W James, B. Jisse-Jung, M. de Jong, P. de Jong, M. Kadler, O. Kalekin, U. Katz, N.R. Khan Chowdhury, A. Kouchner, I. Kreykenbohm, V. Kulikovskiy, R. Lahmann, R. Le Breton, D. Lefèvre, E. Leonora, G. Levi, M. Lincetto, D. Lopez-Coto, S. Loucatos, L. Maderer, J. Manczak, M. Marcelin, A. Margiotta, A. Marinelli, J.A. Martínez-Mora, K. Melis, P. Migliozzi, A. Moussa, R. Muller, L.Nauta, S.Navas, E.Nezri, B. O’Fearraigh, A. Paun, G.E. Pavalas, C. Pellegrino, M. Perrin-Terrin,V. Pestel, P. Piattelli, C. Pieterse, C. Poirè,V. Popa, T. Pradier,N. Randazzo, S.Reck, G. Riccobene, A. Romanov, A. Sánchez-Losa, F. Salesa Greus, D. F. E. Samtleben, M. Sanguineti, P. Sapienza, J. Schnabel, J. Schumann, F. Schüssler, M. Spurio, Th. Stolarczyk, M. Taiuti, Y. Tayalati, S.J. Tingay, B. Vallage, V. Van Elewyck, F. Versari, S. Viola, D. Vivolo, J. Wilms, S. Zavatarelli5, A. Zegarelli, J.D. Zornoza, and J. Zúñiga. A.U. Abeysekara, A. Albert, R. Alfaro, C. Alvarez, J.D. Álvarez, J.R. Angeles Camacho, J.C. Arteaga-Velázquez, K. P. Arunbabu, D. Avila Rojas, H.A. Ayala Solares, R. Babu, V. Baghmanyan, A.S. Barber, J. Becerra Gonzalez, E. BelmontMoreno, S.Y. BenZvi, D. Berley, C. Brisbois, K.S. Caballero-Mora, T. Capistrán, A. Carramiñana, S. Casanova, O. Chaparro-Amaro, U. Cotti, J. Cotzomi, S. Coutiño de León, E. De la Fuente, C. de León, L. Diaz-Cruz, R. Diaz Hernandez, J.C. Díaz-Vélez, B.L. Dingus, M. Durocher, M.A. DuVernois, R.W. Ellsworth, K. Engel, C. Espinoza, K.L. Fan, K. Fang, M. Fernández Alonso, B. Fick, H. Fleischhack, J.L. Flores, N.I. Fraija, D. Garcia, J.A. García-González, J. L. García-Luna, G. García-Torales, F. Garfias, G. Giacinti, H. Goksu, M.M. González, J.A. Goodman, J.P. Harding, S. Hernandez, I. Herzog, J. Hinton, B. Hona, D. Huang, F. Hueyotl-Zahuantitla, C.M. Hui, B. Humensky, P. Hüntemeyer, A. Iriarte, A. Jardin-Blicq, H. Jhee, V. Joshi, D. Kieda, G J. Kunde, S. Kunwar, A. Lara, J. Lee, W.H. Lee, D. Lennarz, H. León Vargas, J. Linnemann, A.L. Longinotti, R. López-Coto, G. Luis-Raya, J. Lundeen, K. Malone, V. Marandon, O. Martinez, I. Martinez-Castellanos, H. Martínez-Huerta, J. Martínez-Castro, J.A.J. Matthews, J. McEnery, P. Miranda-Romagnoli, J.A. Morales-Soto, E. Moreno, M. Mostafá, A. Nayerhoda, L. Nellen, M. Newbold, M.U. Nisa, R. Noriega-Papaqui, L. Olivera-Nieto, N. Omodei, A. Peisker, Y. Pérez Araujo, E.G. Pérez-Pérez, C.D. Rho, C. Rivière, D. Rosa-Gonzalez, E. Ruiz-Velasco, J. Ryan, H. Salazar, F. Salesa Greus, A. Sandoval, M. Schneider, H. Schoorlemmer, J. Serna-Franco, G. Sinnis, A.J. Smith, R.W. Springer, P. Surajbali, I. Taboada, M. Tanner, K. Tollefson, I. Torres, R. Torres-Escobedo, R. Turner, F. Ureña-Mena, L. Villaseñor, X. Wang, I.J. Watson, T. Weisgarber, F. Werner, E. Willox, J. Wood, G.B. Yodh, A. Zepeda, H. ZhouPostprint (published version