Pacific Ocean Neutrino Experiment

Abstract

Following the breakthrough discoveries of very-high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin by IceCube, a new field of research, neutrino astronomy, was established in the previous decade. Even though two extragalactic point sources of such neutrinos have been identified by now, TXS 0506+056 and NGC 1068, the origin and processes of the creation of astrophysical neutrinos are still mostly unexplored. To advance quickly in this new field, more neutrino telescopes are needed. This article describes the current status and plans for the development of the Pacific Ocean Neutrino Experiment (P-ONE), which is under construction in the Pacific Ocean near Vancouver Island. The deployment of P-ONE is expected to start in 2025, exploiting the already available deep-sea infrastructure provided by Ocean Networks Canada. P-ONE will complement the existing IceCube, Baikal-GVD, and KM3NeT neutrino telescopes not only with its large detection volume, but also by providing insight into the southern celestial hemisphere, where the central region of the Galactic Plane is located.