Neutrinos are unique cosmic messengers. Present attempts are directed to extend the window of cosmic neutrino observation from low energies (Sun, supernovae) to much higher energies. The aim is to ...study the most violent processes in the Universe which accelerate charged particles to highest energies, far beyond the reach of laboratory experiments on Earth. These processes must be accompanied by the emission of neutrinos. Neutrinos are electrically neutral and interact only weakly with ordinary matter; they thus propagate through the Universe without absorption or deflection, pointing back to their origin. Their feeble interaction, however, makes them extremely difficult to detect. The years 2008–2010 have witnessed remarkable steps in developing high energy neutrino telescopes. In 2010, the cubic-kilometre neutrino telescope IceCube at the South Pole has been completed. In the Mediterranean Sea the first-generation neutrino telescope ANTARES takes data since 2008, and efforts are directed towards KM3NeT, a telescope on the scale of several cubic kilometres. The next years will be key years for opening the neutrino window to the high energy Universe. With an instrumented volume of a cubic kilometre, IceCube is entering a region with realistic discovery potential. Discoveries or non-discoveries of IceCube will have a strong impact on the future of the field and possibly mark a “moment of truth”. In this review, we discuss the scientific case for neutrino telescopes, describe the detection principle and its implementation in first- and second-generation installations and finally collect the existing physics results and the expectations for future detectors. We conclude with an outlook to alternative detection methods, in particular for neutrinos of extremely high energies.
An updated set of (anti)neutrino-nucleon charged and neutral current cross sections at 3 GeV ≲ Eν ≲100 GeV is presented. These cross sections are of particular interest for the detector optimization ...and data processing and interpretation in the future Megaton-scale experiments like PINGU, ORCA, and Hyper-Kamiokande. Finite masses of charged leptons and target mass corrections in exclusive and deep inelastic (ν̅)νN interactions are taken into account. A new set of QCD NNLO parton density functions, ABMP15, is used for calculation of the DIS cross sections. The sensitivity of the cross sections to phenomenological parameters and to extrapolations of the nucleon structure functions to small x and Q2 is studied. An agreement within the uncertainties of our calculations with experimental data is demonstrated.
We present the current status of the search for possible diffuse orlocalized gamma-ray emission at energies above about 100 TeV with the GAMMA air shower detector which is located at 3200 m a.s.l. on ...Mt. Aragats, Armenia. For this search we select muon-poor extensive air showers detected by GAMMA. We discuss ongoing studies of improved criteria for the selection of muon-poor showers, taking into account the geometry of the muon underground detector array in 2004-2011. A modernization of the muon array was completed between October 2011 and February 2012. Sixty additional muon scintillation detectors were installed and are now taking data. They will improvethe the selection of muon-poor showers, the primary energy estimation, and should also yield improved information on the mass composition.
We review the status of the Lake Baikal Neutrino Experiment. Preparation towards a km3-scale Gigaton Volume Detector (GVD) in Lake Baikal is currently a central activity. As an important milestone, a ...km3-prototype string comprising 6 optical modules and based on a completely new technology, has been installed and was put into operation together with NT200+ in April, 2008. An upgraded version of the prototype string, which comprises 12 optical modules, was put into operation in April 2009. We also present new results from the long-term operation of NT200, including an improved limit on the diffuse astrophysical neutrino flux.
We present the results of a search for high-energy extraterrestrial neutrinos with the Baikal underwater Cherenkov detector NT200, based on data taken in 1998–2003. Upper limits on the diffuse fluxes ...of
ν
e
+
ν
μ
+
ν
τ
, predicted by several models of AGN-like neutrino sources, are derived. For an
E
−2 behavior of the neutrino spectrum, our limit is
E
2
Φ
ν
(
E)
<
8.1
×
10
−7
cm
−2
s
−1
sr
−1
GeV over an neutrino energy range 2
×
10
4–5
×
10
7
GeV. The upper limit on the resonant
ν
¯
e
diffuse flux is
Φ
ν
¯
e
<
3.3
×
10
-
20
cm
-
2
s
-
1
sr
-
1
GeV
-
1
.
The Gigaton Volume Detector in Lake Baikal Avrorin, A.; Aynutdinov, V.; Belolaptikov, I. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
05/2011, Letnik:
639, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
The objective of the Baikal Project is the creation of a kilometer-scale high-energy neutrino observatory: the Gigaton Volume Detector (GVD) in Lake Baikal. Basic elements of the GVD – new optical ...modules, FADC readout units, and underwater communication systems – were investigated and tested in Lake Baikal with prototype strings in 2008–2010. We describe the results of prototype strings operation and review the preliminary design and expected sensitivity of the GVD telescope.
We present results of a search for relativistic magnetic monopoles with the Baikal neutrino telescope NT200, using data taken between April 1998 and February 2003. No monopole candidates have been ...found. We set an upper limit 4.6
×
10
−17
cm
−2
s
−1
sr
−1 for the flux of monopoles with
β
m
=
1. This is a factor of 20 below the Chudakov–Parker bound which is inferred from the very existence of large-scale galactic magnetic fields.
The Baikal neutrino experiment Avrorin, A.; Aynutdinov, V.; Balkanov, V. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
01/2011, Letnik:
626
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
We review the status of the Lake Baikal Neutrino Experiment. Preparation towards a km
3-scale Gigaton Volume Detector (GVD) in Lake Baikal is currently a central activity. As an important milestone, ...a km
3-prototype string comprising of 12 optical modules and based on a completely new technology, has been installed and was put in operation together with NT200+ in April, 2009. We also present recent results from the long-term operation of NT200, including an improved limit on the diffuse astrophysical neutrino flux.
The operation of large underwater neutrino telescopes requires the precise knowledge of the water parameters governing light absorption and scattering, as well as a continuous monitoring of these ...parameters. For this purpose, a stationary underwater device, ASP-15, has been developed by the Baikal collaboration. We describe the basic assumptions and formulae behind ASP-15, the methods how absorption length, scattering length and phase functions are determined, the design of the device, and give some results obtained over many years of operation in conjuction with the Baikal telescope NT200.
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