Performance of the First ANTARES Detector Line

In this paper we report on the data recorded with the first Antares detector line. The line was deployed on the 14th of February 2006 and was connected to the readout two weeks later. Environmental data for one and a half years of running are shown. Measurements of atmospheric muons from data taken from selected runs during the first six months of operation are presented. Performance figures in terms of time residuals and angular resolution are given. Finally the angular distribution of atmospheric muons is presented and from this the depth profile of the muon intensity is derived.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figure

Status and Recent Results of the Acoustic Neutrino Detection Test System AMADEUS

The AMADEUS system is an integral part of the ANTARES neutrino telescope in the Mediterranean Sea. The project aims at the investigation of techniques for acoustic neutrino detection in the deep sea. Installed at a depth of more than 2000m, the acoustic sensors of AMADEUS are based on piezo-ceramics elements for the broad-band recording of signals with frequencies ranging up to 125kHz. AMADEUS was completed in May 2008 and comprises six "acoustic clusters", each one holding six acoustic sensors that are arranged at distances of roughly 1m from each other. The clusters are installed with inter-spacings ranging from 15m to 340m. Acoustic data are continuously acquired and processed at a computer cluster where online filter algorithms are applied to select a high-purity sample of neutrino-like signals. 1.6 TB of data were recorded in 2008 and 3.2 TB in 2009. In order to assess the background of neutrino-like signals in the deep sea, the characteristics of ambient noise and transient signals have been investigated. In this article, the AMADEUS system will be described and recent results will be presented.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figures. Proceedings of ARENA 2010, the 4th International Workshop on Acoustic and Radio EeV Neutrino Detection Activitie

Search for muon-neutrino emission from GeV and TeV gamma-ray flaring blazars using five years of data of the ANTARES telescope

The ANTARES telescope is well-suited for detecting astrophysical transient neutrino sources as it can observe a full hemisphere of the sky at all times with a high duty cycle. The background due to atmospheric particles can be drastically reduced, and the point-source sensitivity improved, by selecting a narrow time window around possible neutrino production periods. Blazars, being radio-loud active galactic nuclei with their jets pointing almost directly towards the observer, are particularly attractive potential neutrino point sources, since they are among the most likely sources of the very high-energy cosmic rays. Neutrinos and gamma rays may be produced in hadronic interactions with the surrounding medium. Moreover, blazars generally show high time variability in their light curves at different wavelengths and on various time scales. This paper presents a time-dependent analysis applied to a selection of flaring gamma-ray blazars observed by the FERMI/LAT experiment and by TeV Cherenkov telescopes using five years of ANTARES data taken from 2008 to 2012. The results are compatible with fluctuations of the background. Upper limits on the neutrino fluence have been produced and compared to the measured gamma-ray spectral energy distribution.Comment: 27 pages, 16 figure

Performance of the front-end electronics of the ANTARES neutrino telescope

ANTARES is a high-energy neutrino telescope installed in the Mediterranean Sea at a depth of 2475 m. It consists of a three-dimensional array of optical modules, each containing a large photomultiplier tube. A total of 2700 front-end ASICs named Analogue Ring Samplers (ARS) process the phototube signals, measure their arrival time, amplitude and shape as well as perform monitoring and calibration tasks. The ARS chip processes the analogue signals from the optical modules and converts information into digital data. All the information is transmitted to shore through further multiplexing electronics and an optical link. This paper describes the performance of the ARS chip; results from the functionality and characterization tests in the laboratory are summarized and the long-term performance in the apparatus is illustrated.Comment: 20 pages, 22 figures, published in Nuclear Instruments and Methods

A search for neutrino emission from the Fermi bubbles with the ANTARES telescope

Analysis of the Fermi-LAT data has revealed two extended structures above and below the Galactic Centre emitting gamma rays with a hard spectrum, the so-called Fermi bubbles. Hadronic models attempting to explain the origin of the Fermi bubbles predict the emission of high-energy neutrinos and gamma rays with similar fluxes. The ANTARES detector, a neutrino telescope located in the Mediterranean Sea, has a good visibility to the Fermi bubble regions. Using data collected from 2008 to 2011 no statistically significant excess of events is observed and therefore upper limits on the neutrino flux in TeV range from the Fermi bubbles are derived for various assumed energy cutoffs of the source

Expansion cone for the 3-inch PMTs of the KM3NeT optical modules

[EN] Detection of high-energy neutrinos from distant astrophysical sources will open a new window on the Universe. The detection principle exploits the measurement of Cherenkov light emitted by charged particles resulting from neutrino interactions in the matter containing the telescope. A novel multi-PMT digital optical module (DOM) was developed to contain 31 3-inch photomultiplier tubes (PMTs). In order to maximize the detector sensitivity, each PMT will be surrounded by an expansion cone which collects photons that would otherwise miss the photocathode. Results for various angles of incidence with respect to the PMT surface indicate an increase in collection efficiency by 30% on average for angles up to 45 degrees with respect to the perpendicular. Ray-tracing calculations could reproduce the measurements, allowing to estimate an increase in the overall photocathode sensitivity, integrated over all angles of incidence, by 27% (for a single PMT). Prototype DOMs, being built by the KM3NeT consortium, will be equipped with these expansion cones.This work is supported through the EU, FP6 Contract no. 011937, FP7 grant agreement no. 212252, and the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science.Adrián Martínez, S.; Ageron, M.; Aguilar, JA.; Aharonian, F.; Aiello, S.; Albert, A.; Alexandri, M.... (2013). Expansion cone for the 3-inch PMTs of the KM3NeT optical modules. Journal of Instrumentation. 8(3):1-19. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-0221/8/03/T03006S1198

Time calibration of the ANTARES neutrino telescope

The ANTARES deep-sea neutrino telescope comprises a three-dimensional array of photomultipliers to detect the Cherenkov light induced by upgoing relativistic charged particles originating from neutrino interactions in the vicinity of the detector. The large scattering length of light in the deep sea facilitates an angular resolution of a few tenths of a degree for neutrino energies exceeding 10 TeV. In order to achieve this optimal performance, the time calibration procedures should ensure a relative time calibration between the photomultipliers at the level of similar to 1 ns. The methods developed to attain this level of precision are described

The positioning system of the ANTARES Neutrino Telescope

The ANTARES neutrino telescope, located 40km off the coast of Toulon in the Mediterranean Sea at a mooring depth of about 2475m, consists of twelve detection lines equipped typically with 25 storeys. Every storey carries three optical modules that detect Cherenkov light induced by charged secondary particles (typically muons) coming from neutrino interactions. As these lines are flexible structures fixed to the sea bed and held taut by a buoy, sea currents cause the lines to move and the storeys to rotate. The knowledge of the position of the optical modules with a precision better than 10cm is essential for a good reconstruction of particle tracks. In this paper the ANTARES positioning system is described. It consists of an acoustic positioning system, for distance triangulation, and a compass-tiltmeter system, for the measurement of the orientation and inclination of the storeys. Necessary corrections are discussed and the results of the detector alignment procedure are described

Search for muon-neutrino emission from GeV and TeV gamma-ray flaring blazars using five years of data of the ANTARES telescope

The ANTARES telescope is well-suited for detecting astrophysical transient neutrino sources as it can observe a full hemisphere of the sky at all times with a high duty cycle. The background due to atmospheric particles can be drastically reduced, and the point-source sensitivity improved, by selecting a narrow time window around possible neutrino production periods. Blazars, being radio-loud active galactic nuclei with their jets pointing almost directly towards the observer, are particularly attractive potential neutrino point sources, since they are among the most likely sources of the very high-energy cosmic rays. Neutrinos and gamma rays may be produced in hadronic interactions with the surrounding medium. Moreover, blazars generally show high time variability in their light curves at different wavelengths and on various time scales. This paper presents a time-dependent analysis applied to a selection of flaring gamma-ray blazars observed by the FERMI/LAT experiment and by TeV Cherenkov telescopes using five years of ANTARES data taken from 2008 to 2012. The results are compatible with fluctuations of the background. Upper limits on the neutrino fluence have been produced and compared to the measured gamma-ray spectral energy distributionThe authors acknowledge the financial support of the funding agencies: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Commissariat a l'energie atomique et aux energies alternatives (CEA), Commission Europeenne (FEDER fund and Marie Curie Program), Region Ile-de-France (DIM-ACAV) Region Alsace (contrat CPER), Region Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur, Departement du Var and Ville de La Seyne-sur-Mer, France; Bundesministerium fur Bildung und Forschung (BMBF), Germany; Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), Italy; Stichting voor Fundamenteel Onderzoek der Materie (FOM), Nederlandse organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO), the Netherlands; Council of the President of the Russian Federation for young scientists and leading scientific schools supporting grants, Russia; National Authority for Scientific Research (ANCS), Romania; Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (MINECO), Prometeo and Grisolia programs of Generalitat Valenciana and MultiDark, Spain; Agence de l'Oriental and CNRST, Morocco. We also acknowledge the technical support of Ifremer, AIM and Foselev Marine for the sea operation and the CC-IN2P3 for the computing facilities.Adrián Martínez, S.; Albert, A.; André, M.; Anton, G.; Ardid Ramírez, M.; Aubert, J.; Baret, B.... (2015). Search for muon-neutrino emission from GeV and TeV gamma-ray flaring blazars using five years of data of the ANTARES telescope. Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics. 12(14):1-26. https://doi.org/10.1088/1475-7516/2015/12/014S1261214Becker, J. K. (2008). High-energy neutrinos in the context of multimessenger astrophysics. Physics Reports, 458(4-5), 173-246. doi:10.1016/j.physrep.2007.10.006Bloom, S. D., & Marscher, A. P. (1996). An Analysis of the Synchrotron Self-Compton Model for the Multi--Wave Band Spectra of Blazars. The Astrophysical Journal, 461, 657. doi:10.1086/177092Maraschi, L., Ghisellini, G., & Celotti, A. (1992). A jet model for the gamma-ray emitting blazar 3C 279. The Astrophysical Journal, 397, L5. doi:10.1086/186531Dermer, C. D., & Schlickeiser, R. (1993). Model for the High-Energy Emission from Blazars. The Astrophysical Journal, 416, 458. doi:10.1086/173251Sikora, M., Begelman, M. C., & Rees, M. J. (1994). Comptonization of diffuse ambient radiation by a relativistic jet: The source of gamma rays from blazars? The Astrophysical Journal, 421, 153. doi:10.1086/173633Gaisser, T. K., Halzen, F., & Stanev, T. (1995). Particle astrophysics with high energy neutrinos. Physics Reports, 258(3), 173-236. doi:10.1016/0370-1573(95)00003-yLearned, J. G., & Mannheim, K. (2000). High-Energy Neutrino Astrophysics. Annual Review of Nuclear and Particle Science, 50(1), 679-749. doi:10.1146/annurev.nucl.50.1.679Urry, C. M., & Padovani, P. (1995). Unified Schemes for Radio-Loud Active Galactic Nuclei. Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 107, 803. doi:10.1086/133630Halzen, F., & Hooper, D. (2002). High-energy neutrino astronomy: the cosmic ray connection. Reports on Progress in Physics, 65(7), 1025-1078. doi:10.1088/0034-4885/65/7/201Böttcher, M. (2007). Modeling the emission processes in blazars. Astrophysics and Space Science, 309(1-4), 95-104. doi:10.1007/s10509-007-9404-0Böttcher, M., Reimer, A., Sweeney, K., & Prakash, A. (2013). LEPTONIC AND HADRONIC MODELING OFFERMI-DETECTED BLAZARS. The Astrophysical Journal, 768(1), 54. doi:10.1088/0004-637x/768/1/54Reynoso, M. M., Romero, G. E., & Medina, M. C. (2012). A two-component model for the high-energy variability of blazars. Astronomy & Astrophysics, 545, A125. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201219873Atoyan, A. ., & Dermer, C. . (2004). Neutrinos and γ-rays of hadronic origin from AGN jets. New Astronomy Reviews, 48(5-6), 381-386. doi:10.1016/j.newar.2003.12.046Neronov, A., & Ribordy, M. (2009). IceCube sensitivity for neutrino flux from Fermi blazars in quiescent states. Physical Review D, 80(8). doi:10.1103/physrevd.80.083008Mücke, A., & Protheroe, R. J. (2001). A proton synchrotron blazar model for flaring in Markarian 501. Astroparticle Physics, 15(1), 121-136. doi:10.1016/s0927-6505(00)00141-9Abdo, A. A., Ackermann, M., Ajello, M., Allafort, A., Antolini, E., Atwood, W. B., … Barbiellini, G. (2010). THE FIRST CATALOG OF ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI DETECTED BY THEFERMILARGE AREA TELESCOPE. The Astrophysical Journal, 715(1), 429-457. doi:10.1088/0004-637x/715/1/429Ageron, M., Aguilar, J. A., Al Samarai, I., Albert, A., Ameli, F., André, M., … Ardid, M. (2011). ANTARES: The first undersea neutrino telescope. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, 656(1), 11-38. doi:10.1016/j.nima.2011.06.103Aguilar, J. A., Samarai, I. A., Albert, A., André, M., Anghinolfi, M., Anton, G., … Astraatmadja, T. (2011). Search for a diffuse flux of high-energy νμ with the ANTARES neutrino telescope. Physics Letters B, 696(1-2), 16-22. doi:10.1016/j.physletb.2010.11.070Adrián-Martínez, S., Al Samarai, I., Albert, A., André, M., Anghinolfi, M., Anton, G., … Aubert, J.-J. (2012). SEARCH FOR COSMIC NEUTRINO POINT SOURCES WITH FOUR YEARS OF DATA FROM THE ANTARES TELESCOPE. The Astrophysical Journal, 760(1), 53. doi:10.1088/0004-637x/760/1/53Adrián-Martínez, S., Albert, A., André, M., Anghinolfi, M., Anton, G., Ardid, M., … Barrios, J. (2014). A search for time dependent neutrino emission from microquasars with the ANTARES telescope. Journal of High Energy Astrophysics, 3-4, 9-17. doi:10.1016/j.jheap.2014.06.002Adrián-Martínez, S., Albert, A., Al Samarai, I., André, M., Anghinolfi, M., Anton, G., … Aubert, J.-J. (2013). Search for muon neutrinos from gamma-ray bursts with the ANTARES neutrino telescope using 2008 to 2011 data. Astronomy & Astrophysics, 559, A9. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201322169Abdo, A. A., Ackermann, M., Ajello, M., Antolini, E., Baldini, L., Ballet, J., … Bellazzini, R. (2010). GAMMA-RAY LIGHT CURVES AND VARIABILITY OF BRIGHTFERMI-DETECTED BLAZARS. The Astrophysical Journal, 722(1), 520-542. doi:10.1088/0004-637x/722/1/520Ackermann, M., Ajello, M., Allafort, A., Antolini, E., Atwood, W. B., Axelsson, M., … Bastieri, D. (2011). THE SECOND CATALOG OF ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI DETECTED BY THEFERMILARGE AREA TELESCOPE. The Astrophysical Journal, 743(2), 171. doi:10.1088/0004-637x/743/2/171Hovatta, T., Pavlidou, V., King, O. G., Mahabal, A., Sesar, B., Dancikova, R., … Surace, J. (2014). Connection between optical and γ-ray variability in blazars. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 439(1), 690-702. doi:10.1093/mnras/stt2494Adrián-Martínez, S., Al Samarai, I., Albert, A., André, M., Anghinolfi, M., Anton, G., … Aubert, J.-J. (2012). Search for neutrino emission from gamma-ray flaring blazars with the ANTARES telescope. Astroparticle Physics, 36(1), 204-210. doi:10.1016/j.astropartphys.2012.06.001Aguilar, J. A., Albert, A., Ameli, F., Amram, P., Anghinolfi, M., Anton, G., … Aubert, J.-J. (2005). Study of large hemispherical photomultiplier tubes for the ANTARES neutrino telescope. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, 555(1-2), 132-141. doi:10.1016/j.nima.2005.09.035Amram, P., Anghinolfi, M., Anvar, S., Ardellier-Desages, F. ., Aslanides, E., Aubert, J.-J., … Battaglieri, M. (2002). The ANTARES optical module. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, 484(1-3), 369-383. doi:10.1016/s0168-9002(01)02026-5Adrián-Martínez, S., Ageron, M., Aguilar, J. A., Samarai, I. A., Albert, A., André, M., … Ardid, M. (2012). The positioning system of the ANTARES Neutrino Telescope. Journal of Instrumentation, 7(08), T08002-T08002. doi:10.1088/1748-0221/7/08/t08002Aguilar, J. A., Albert, A., Ameli, F., Anghinolfi, M., Anton, G., Anvar, S., … Basa, S. (2007). The data acquisition system for the ANTARES neutrino telescope. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, 570(1), 107-116. doi:10.1016/j.nima.2006.09.098Agrawal, V., Gaisser, T. K., Lipari, P., & Stanev, T. (1996). Atmospheric neutrino flux above 1 GeV. Physical Review D, 53(3), 1314-1323. doi:10.1103/physrevd.53.1314BECHERINI, Y., MARGIOTTA, A., SIOLI, M., & SPURIO, M. (2006). A parameterisation of single and multiple muons in the deep water or ice. Astroparticle Physics, 25(1), 1-13. doi:10.1016/j.astropartphys.2005.10.005Carminati, G., Bazzotti, M., Margiotta, A., & Spurio, M. (2008). Atmospheric MUons from PArametric formulas: a fast GEnerator for neutrino telescopes (MUPAGE). Computer Physics Communications, 179(12), 915-923. doi:10.1016/j.cpc.2008.07.014Margiotta, A. (2013). Common simulation tools for large volume neutrino detectors. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, 725, 98-101. doi:10.1016/j.nima.2012.11.172Adrián-Martínez, S., Albert, A., Al Samarai, I., André, M., Anghinolfi, M., Anton, G., … Aubert, J.-J. (2013). Measurement of the atmospheric ν μ energy spectrum from 100 GeV to 200 TeV with the ANTARES telescope. The European Physical Journal C, 73(10). doi:10.1140/epjc/s10052-013-2606-4Abdo, A. A., Ajello, M., Allafort, A., Baldini, L., Ballet, J., Barbiellini, G., … Bellazzini, R. (2013). THE SECONDFERMILARGE AREA TELESCOPE CATALOG OF GAMMA-RAY PULSARS. The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, 208(2), 17. doi:10.1088/0067-0049/208/2/17Scargle, J. D. (1981). Studies in astronomical time series analysis. I - Modeling random processes in the time domain. The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, 45, 1. doi:10.1086/190706Scargle, J. D. (1998). Studies in Astronomical Time Series Analysis. V. Bayesian Blocks, a New Method to Analyze Structure in Photon Counting Data. The Astrophysical Journal, 504(1), 405-418. doi:10.1086/306064Scargle, J. D., Norris, J. P., Jackson, B., & Chiang, J. (2013). STUDIES IN ASTRONOMICAL TIME SERIES ANALYSIS. VI. BAYESIAN BLOCK REPRESENTATIONS. The Astrophysical Journal, 764(2), 167. doi:10.1088/0004-637x/764/2/167Neyman, J. (1937). Outline of a Theory of Statistical Estimation Based on the Classical Theory of Probability. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 236(767), 333-380. doi:10.1098/rsta.1937.0005Aartsen, M. G., Ackermann, M., Adams, J., Aguilar, J. A., Ahlers, M., Ahrens, M., … Arguelles, C. (2015). SEARCHES FOR TIME-DEPENDENT NEUTRINO SOURCES WITH ICECUBE DATA FROM 2008 TO 2012. The Astrophysical Journal, 807(1), 46. doi:10.1088/0004-637x/807/1/46Kelner, S. R., Aharonian, F. A., & Bugayov, V. V. (2006). Energy spectra of gamma rays, electrons, and neutrinos produced at proton-proton interactions in the very high energy regime. Physical Review D, 74(3). doi:10.1103/physrevd.74.034018Kelner, S. R., & Aharonian, F. A. (2010). Erratum: Energy spectra of gamma rays, electrons, and neutrinos produced at interactions of relativistic protons with low energy radiation [Phys. Rev. D78, 034013 (2008)]. Physical Review D, 82(9). doi:10.1103/physrevd.82.099901Tchernin, C., Aguilar, J. A., Neronov, A., & Montaruli, T. (2013). Neutrino signal from extended Galactic sources in IceCube. Astronomy & Astrophysics, 560, A67. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201321801Padovani, P., & Resconi, E. (2014). Are both BL Lacs and pulsar wind nebulae the astrophysical counterparts of IceCube neutrino events? Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 443(1), 474-484. doi:10.1093/mnras/stu1166Aleksić, J., Antonelli, L. A., Antoranz, P., Backes, M., Barrio, J. A., Bastieri, D., … Berger, K. (2011). MAGIC Observations and multiwavelength properties of the quasar 3C 279 in 2007 and 2009. Astronomy & Astrophysics, 530, A4. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201116497Aleksić, J., Ansoldi, S., Antonelli, L. A., Antoranz, P., Babic, A., Bangale, P., … Bednarek, W. (2014). MAGIC observations and multifrequency properties of the flat spectrum radio quasar 3C 279 in 2011. Astronomy & Astrophysics, 567, A41. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201323036Murase, K., Inoue, Y., & Dermer, C. D. (2014). Diffuse neutrino intensity from the inner jets of active galactic nuclei: Impacts of external photon fields and the blazar sequence. Physical Review D, 90(2). doi:10.1103/physrevd.90.023007Finke, J. D., & Becker, P. A. (2014). FOURIER ANALYSIS OF BLAZAR VARIABILITY. The Astrophysical Journal, 791(1), 21. doi:10.1088/0004-637x/791/1/21Tavecchio, F., Ghisellini, G., & Guetta, D. (2014). STRUCTURED JETS IN BL LAC OBJECTS: EFFICIENT PeV NEUTRINO FACTORIES? The Astrophysical Journal, 793(1), L18. doi:10.1088/2041-8205/793/1/l1