ABSTRACT
The existence of high-energy astrophysical neutrinos has been unambiguously demonstrated, but their sources remain elusive. IceCube reported an association of a 290-TeV neutrino with a ...gamma-ray flare of TXS 0506 + 056, an active galactic nucleus with a compact radio jet pointing to us. Later, radio-bright blazars were shown to be associated with IceCube neutrino events with high statistical significance. These associations remained unconfirmed with the data of independent experiments. Here, we report on the detection of a rare neutrino event with the estimated energy of 224 ± 75 TeV from the direction of TXS 0506 + 056 by the new Baikal Gigaton Volume Detector (Baikal-GVD) in April 2021. This event is the highest energy cascade detected so far by the Baikal-GVD neutrino telescope from a direction below horizon. The result supports previous suggestions that radio blazars in general, and TXS 0506 + 056 in particular, are the sources of high-energy neutrinos, and opens up the cascade channel for the neutrino astronomy.
Currently, the Baikal-GVD Deep Underwater Neutrino Telescope is being successfully deployed in Lake Baikal. It comprises 96 strings with 3456 optical modules. We present the status and plans for ...further deployment of the Baikal-GVD telescope and discuss the issues related to the development of the next-generation neutrino telescope in Lake Baikal.
The neutrino telescope Baikal-GVD is designed for search for high energy neutrinos whose sources are not yet reliably identified. It currently includes total of 3456 optical modules arranged on 96 ...strings, providing an effective volume of 0.6 km
for cascades with energy above 1 PeV. We discuss the first results from the partially built experiment, which is currently the largest neutrino telescope in the Northern Hemisphere and still growing up.
We report on the observation of a rare neutrino event detected by Baikal-GVD
in April 2021. The event GVD210418CA is the highest-energy cascade observed by
Baikal-GVD so far from the direction below ...the horizon. The estimated cascade
energy is $224\pm75$~TeV. The evaluated signalness parameter of GVD210418CA is
97.1\% using an assumption of the E$^{-2.46}$ spectrum of astrophysical
neutrinos. The arrival direction of GVD210418CA is near the position of the
well-known radio blazar TXS~0506+056, with the angular distance being within a
90\% directional uncertainty region of the Baikal-GVD measurement. The event
was followed by a radio flare observed by the RATAN-600 radio telescope,
further strengthening the case for the neutrino-blazar association.
Baikal-GVD is a next generation, kilometer-scale neutrino telescope currently
under construction in Lake Baikal. GVD consists of multi-megaton subarrays
(clusters) and is designed for the detection ...of astrophysical neutrino fluxes
at energies from a few TeV up to 100 PeV. The large detector volume and modular
design of Baikal-GVD allows for the measurements of the astrophysical diffuse
neutrino flux to be performed already at early phases of the array
construction. We present here recent results of the measurements on the diffuse
cosmic neutrino flux obtained with the Baikal-GVD neutrino telescope using
cascade-like events.
Reconstructed tracks of muons produced in neutrino interactions provide the precise probe for the neutrino direction. Therefore, track-like events are a powerful tool to search for neutrino point ...sources. Recently, Baikal-GVD has demonstrated the first sample of low-energy neutrino candidate events extracted from the data of the season 2019 in a so-called single-cluster analysis - treating each cluster as an independent detector. In this paper, the extension of the track-like event analysis to a wider data set is discussed and the first high-energy track-like events are demonstrated. The status of multi-cluster track reconstruction and that of the event analysis are also discussed.
We present the results of the two-year (2021-2022) monitoring of absorption and scattering lengths of light with wavelength 400-620 nm within the effective volume of the deep underwater neutrino ...telescope Baikal-GVD, which were measured by a device Baikal-5D No.2. The Baikal-5D No.2. was installed during the 2021 winter expedition at a depth of 1180 m. The absorption and scattering lengths were measured every week in 9 spectral points. The device Baikal-5D No.2 also has the ability to measure detailed scattering and absorption spectra. The data obtained make it possible to estimate the range of changes in the absorption and scattering lengths over a sufficiently long period of time and to investigate the relationship between the processes of changes in absorption and scattering. An analysis was made of changes in absorption and scattering spectra for the period 2021-2022.
The Baikal-GVD is a deep-underwater neutrino telescope being constructed in Lake Baikal. After the winter 2023 deployment campaign the detector consists of 3456 optical modules installed on 96 ...vertical strings. The status of the detector and progress in data analysis are discussed in present report. The Baikal-GVD data collected in 2018-2022 indicate the presence of cosmic neutrino flux in high-energy cascade events consistent with observations by the IceCube neutrino telescope. Analysis of track-like events results in identification of first high-energy muon neutrino candidates. These and other results from 2018-2022 data samples are reviewed in this report.
The Baikal-GVD neutrino detector is a deep-underwater neutrino telescope under construction and recently after the winter 2023 deployment it consists of 3456 optical modules attached on 96 vertical ...strings. This 3-dimensional array of photo-sensors allows to observe ambient light in the vicinity of the Baikal-GVD telescope that is associated mostly with water luminescence. Results on time and space variations of the luminescent activity are reviewed based on data collected in 2018-2022.
We present a new procedure for time calibration of the Baikal-GVD neutrino telescope. The track reconstruction quality depends on accurate measurements of arrival times of Cherenkov photons. ...Therefore, it is crucial to achieve a high precision in time calibration. For that purpose, in addition to other calibration methods, we employ a new procedure using atmospheric muons reconstructed in a single-cluster mode. The method is based on iterative determination of effective time offsets for each optical module. This paper focuses on the results of the iterative reconstruction procedure with time offsets from the previous iteration and the verification of the method developed. The theoretical muon calibration precision is estimated to be around 1.5-1.6ns.
