Integration of Acoustic Neutrino Detection Methods into ANTARES

The ANTARES Neutrino Telescope is a water Cherenkov detector currently under construction in the Mediterranean Sea. It is also designed to serve as a platform for investigations of the deep-sea environment. In this context, the ANTARES group at the University of Erlangen will integrate acoustic sensors within the infrastructure of the experiment. With this dedicated setup, tests of acoustic particle detection methods and deep-sea acoustic background studies shall be performed. The aim of this project is to evaluate the feasibility of a future acoustic neutrino telescope in the deep sea operating in the ultra-high energy regime. In these proceedings, the implementation of the project is described in the context of the premises and challenges set by the physics of acoustic particle detection and the integration into an existing infrastructure.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, to appear in the proceedings of the International ARENA Workshop, May 28-30th, 2006, University of Northumbri

Integration of Acoustic Neutrino Detection Methods into ANTARES

The ANTARES Neutrino Telescope [1] is a water Cherenkov detector currently under construction in the Mediterranean Sea. It is also designed to serve as a platform for investigations of the deep-sea environment. In this context, the ANTARES group at the University of Erlangen will integrate acoustic sensors within the infrastructure of the experiment. With this dedicated setup, tests of acoustic particle detection methods and deep-sea acoustic background studies shall be performed. The aim of this project is to evaluate the feasibility of a future acoustic neutrino telescope in the deep sea operating in the ultra-high energy regime. In these proceedings, the implementation of the project is described in the context of the premises and challenges set by the physics of acoustic particle detection and the integration into an existing infrastructure

Understanding Piezo Based Sensors for Acoustic Neutrino Detection

The ANTARES collaboration is currently installing a neutrino telescope off the French Mediterranean coast to measure diffuse fluxes and point sources of high energy cosmic neutrinos. The complete detector will consist of 900 photomultipliers on 12 detector lines, using 0.01km3 of sea water as target material[1]. As part of the ANTARES deep-sea research infrastructure, the Erlangen group is planning to modify several ANTARES storeys by fitting them with acoustic receivers to study the feasibility of acoustic neutrino detection in the deep sea. In this paper, studies of the electromechanical properties of piezoelectric sensors are presented, based on an equivalent circuit diagram for the coupled mechanical and electrical oscillations of a piezoelectric element. A method for obtaining the system parameters as well as derivations of sensor properties like pressure sensitivity and intrinsic noise are treated and results compared to measurements. Finally, a possible application of these results for simulating system response and optimising reconstruction algorithms is discussed

KM3NeT: Technical design report.

KM3NeT is a deep‐sea multidisciplinary observatory in the Mediterranean Sea that will provide innovative science opportunities spanning Astroparticle Physics and Earth and Sea Science. This is possible through the synergy created by the use of a common infrastructure allowing for long term continuous operation of a neutrino telescope and marine instrumentation. The present KM3NeT Design Study concludes with this Technical Design Report which develops the ideas put forward in the Conceptual Design Report published in April 2008

KM3NeT. Conceptual Design Report for a Deep-Sea Research Infrastructure Incorporating a Very Large Volume Neutrino Telescope in the Mediterranean Sea

The scientific case for a neutrino telescope of a cubic kilometre scale is overwhelming. The infra‐structure it requires can easily be shared by a host of other, associated, sciences, making long‐term measurements in the area of oceanography, clima‐tology, geophysics, geotechnics and marine bio‐logical sciences possible. This combination of neu‐trino telescope and multidisciplinary undersea ob‐servatory, KM3NeT, is the subject of this Design Report. It summarises goals for the design and the options for its technical implementation