Abstract
A prototype detection unit of the KM3NeT deep-sea neutrino telescope has been installed at 3500m depth 80km offshore the Italian coast. KM3NeT in its final configuration will contain several hundreds of detection units. Each detection unit is a mechanical structure anchored to the sea floor, held vertical by a submerged buoy and supporting optical modules for the detection of Cherenkov light emitted by charged secondary particles emerging from neutrino interactions. This prototype string implements three optical modules with 31 photomultiplier tubes each. These optical modules were developed by the KM3NeT Collaboration to enhance the detection capability of neutrino interactions. The prototype detection unit was operated since its deployment in May 2014 until its decommissioning in July 2015. Reconstruction of the particle trajectories from the data requires a nanosecond accuracy in the time calibration. A procedure for relative time calibration of the photomultiplier tubes contained in each optical module is described. This procedure is based on the measured coincidences produced in the sea by the 40K background light and can easily be expanded to a detector with several thousands of optical modules. The time offsets between the different optical modules are obtained using LED nanobeacons mounted inside them. A set of data corresponding to 600 hours of livetime was analysed. The results show good agreement with Monte Carlo simulations of the expected optical background and the signal from atmospheric muons. An almost background-free sample of muons was selected by filtering the time correlated signals on all the three optical modules. The zenith angle of the selected muons was reconstructed with a precision of about 3{\deg}.
Highlights
54 Page 2 of 12Amsterdam, The Netherlands Dipartimento di Fisica, Università ‘Federico II’, Naples, Italy INFN, Sezione di Bari, Bari, Italy APC,Université Paris Diderot, CNRS/IN2P3 CEA/IRFU, Observatoire de Paris, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 75205 Paris, France KVI-CART, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands INFN, Sezione di Pisa, Pisa, Italy Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Pisa, Pisa, Italy INFN, Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, Catania, Italy School of Science and Technology, Hellenic Open University, Patras, Greece Leiden Institute of Physics, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Roma La Sapienza, Rome, Italy Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Salerno, Fisciano, Italy Institute of Physics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands IFIC-Instituto de Física Corpuscular, (CSIC-Universitat de València), Valencia, Spain Institute of Space Science, Bucharest, Romania INFN, Sezione di Bologna, Bologna, Italy Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Università di Bologna, Bologna, Italy Université Paris-Sud, 91405 Orsay Cedex, France University Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany INFN, Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati, Frascati, Italy NIOZ, Texel, The Netherlands Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands Dr Remeis Sternwarte, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Bamberg, Germany Physics Department, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus IPHC, CNRS/IN2P3, Strasbourg, France Oceanlab, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Genova, Genova, Italy CEA, Irfu/SPP, Centre de Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
Each detection unit is a mechanical structure anchored to the sea floor, held vertical by a submerged buoy and supporting optical modules for the detection of Cherenkov light emitted by charged secondary particles emerging from neutrino interactions
The results show good agreement with Monte Carlo simulations of the expected optical background and the signal from atmospheric muons
Summary
Amsterdam, The Netherlands Dipartimento di Fisica, Università ‘Federico II’, Naples, Italy INFN, Sezione di Bari, Bari, Italy APC,Université Paris Diderot, CNRS/IN2P3 CEA/IRFU, Observatoire de Paris, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 75205 Paris, France KVI-CART, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands INFN, Sezione di Pisa, Pisa, Italy Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Pisa, Pisa, Italy INFN, Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, Catania, Italy School of Science and Technology, Hellenic Open University, Patras, Greece Leiden Institute of Physics, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Roma La Sapienza, Rome, Italy Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Salerno, Fisciano, Italy Institute of Physics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands IFIC-Instituto de Física Corpuscular, (CSIC-Universitat de València), Valencia, Spain Institute of Space Science, Bucharest, Romania INFN, Sezione di Bologna, Bologna, Italy Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Università di Bologna, Bologna, Italy Université Paris-Sud, 91405 Orsay Cedex, France University Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany INFN, Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati, Frascati, Italy NIOZ, Texel, The Netherlands Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands Dr Remeis Sternwarte, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Bamberg, Germany Physics Department, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus IPHC, CNRS/IN2P3, Strasbourg, France Oceanlab, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Genova, Genova, Italy CEA, Irfu/SPP, Centre de Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
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