KM3NeT Detector Research Articles

Core-Collapse Supernova neutrino detection prospects with the KM3NeT neutrino telescopes.

Core Collapse Supernovae (CCSN) are explosive phenomena that may occur at the end of the life of massive stars, releasing over 99% of the energy through neutrino emission with energies on the 10 MeV scale. While the explosion mechanism is not fully understood, neutrinos are believed to play an important role. The only detection as of today are the 24 neutrinos from supernova SN1987A. The observation of the next Galactic CCSN will lead to important breakthroughs across the fields of astrophysics, nuclear and particle physics. For a Galactic CCSN, the KM3NeT ORCA and ARCA detectors in the Mediterranean Sea will observe a significant number of neutrinos via the detection of Cherenkov light, mostly induced by Inverse Beta Decay (IBD) interactions in sea water. The detection of coincident photons by the 31 photomultipliers of the KM3NeT digital optical modules (DOMs) allows to separate the signal from the optical background sources. The KM3NeT detection sensitivity to a Galactic CCSN and the potential to resolve the neutrino light-curve have been estimated exploiting detailed Monte-Carlo simulations. Specific criteria are proposed for the online triggering and the participation in the SNEWS network.

Core-Collapse Supernova neutrino detection with KM3NeT

Core Collapse Supernovae (CCSNe) are explosive phenomena that may occur at the end of the life of massive stars, releasing over 99% of the energy through neutrino emission. While the explosion mechanism is not fully understood, neutrinos are believed to play an important role. The only detection as of today are the 24 neutrinos from SN1987A. The observation of the next Galactic CCSN will lead to important breakthroughs in astroparticle physics. For a Galactic CCSN, the KM3NeT ORCA and ARCA detectors in the Mediterranean Sea will observe a significant neutrino signal via the detection of Cherenkov light, mostly induced by Inverse Beta Decay interactions in sea water. The detection of coincident photons by the 31 photomultipliers of each KM3NeT digital optical module (DOM) allows for an efficient discrimination of the optical backgrounds. The KM3NeT detection sensitivity to a Galactic CCSN and the potential to resolve the neutrino light-curve have been estimated relying on detailed Monte Carlo simulations. Specific criteria are proposed for the online triggering and the participation in the SNEWS network.

Neutrino astronomy and oscillation research in the Mediterranean: ANTARES and KM3NeT

Abstract ANTARES , the underwater neutrino telescope in the Northern Hemisphere, has been continuously operating since 2007 in the Mediterranean Sea. The transparency of the water allows for a very good angular resolution in the reconstruction of interactions from neutrinos of all flavours. This results in unprecedented sensitivity for neutrino source searches in the Southern Sky at TeV energies, so that valuable constraints can be set on the origin of the cosmic neutrino flux discovered by the IceCube detector. Building on the successful experience of ANTARES the next generation KM3NeT neutrino telescope is now under construction in the Mediterranean Sea to significantly boost the sensitivity. Two detectors with the same technology but different granularity are under construction at two sites and will focus on high energy cosmic neutrinos (ARCA with Gton instrumented volume, offshore Capo Passero, Italy) and on atmospheric neutrinos at low energies down to a few GeV to address atmospheric neutrino oscillations (ORCA with Mtons instrumented volume, offshore Toulon, France). The basic KM3NeT detection element, the Digital Optical Module (DOM), houses 31 three-inch PMTs inside a 17 inch glass sphere. This multi-PMT concept allows for an accurate measurement of the light intensity (photon counting) and offers directional information with an almost isotropic field of view, at a reduced cost. This contribution will provide an overview on the newest results from ANTARES and an outlook towards the construction plan and exciting science potential of KM3NeT.

First results of the KM3NeT/ARCA detector

The KM3NeT collaboration started to build a multi-km3neutrino telescope in the Mediterranean Sea. The telescope is composed of two parts: the ARCA detector, optimised for searches for high energy neutrino sources in the Universe, and ORCA, for the determination of the mass hierarchy of neutrinos. ARCA is under construction at the Capo Passero site, Italy, 80 km offshore at a depth of 3500 m while ORCA is located in the Toulon area, France, 40 km offshore at a depth of 2500 m. The basic detection element of the KM3NeT detector is the Digital Optical Module. The module is a pressure resistant glass sphere, containing 31 photo-multiplier tubes. Eighteen modules are arranged in the detection unit, a vertical structure anchored on the sea floor. The detection units are deployed on the sea bed to form a three-dimensional array of optical modules to detect Cherenkov light produced by neutrino-induced muons. In these proceedings preliminary results obtained with the first two detection units of ARCA are presented. The capability to select and reconstruct atmospheric muons is discussed. The dependence of the muon flux with the sea depth is derived, showing that the detector is well calibrated and the systematics are kept under control.

Results of the first detection units of KM3NeT

The KM3NeT collaboration is building a km3-scale neutrino telescope in the Mediterranean Sea. The current phase of construction comprises the deep-sea and onshore infrastructures at two installation sites and the installation of the first detection units for the “ARCA” (Astroparticle Research with Cosmics in the Abyss) and “ORCA” (Oscillation Research with Cosmics in the Abyss) detector. At the KM3NeT-It site, 80km offshore Capo Passero, Italy, the first 32 detection units for the ARCA detector are being installed and at the KM3Net-Fr site, 40km offshore Toulon, France, 7 detection units for the ORCA detector will be deployed. The second phase of KM3NeT foresees the completion of ARCA for neutrino astronomy at energies above TeV and ORCA for neutrino mass hierarchy studies at energies in the GeV range. The basic element of the KM3NeT detector is the detection unit. In the ARCA geometry, the detection unit is a 700m long vertical structure hosting 18 optical modules. Each optical module comprises 31 3in photomultiplier tubes, instruments to monitor environmental parameters, and the electronic boards for the digitisation of the PMT signals and the management of data acquisition. In their final configuration, both ARCA and ORCA will be composed of about 200 detection units. The first detection unit was installed at the KM3NeT-It site in December 2015. It is active and taking data since its connection to the subsea network. The time of arrival and the duration of photon hits on each of the photomultipliers is measured with a time resolution of 1ns and transferred onshore where the measurements are processed, triggered and stored on disk. A time calibration procedure, based on data recorded with flashing LED beacons during dedicated periods, allows for time synchronisation of the signals from the optical modules at the nanosecond level. In May 2016, an additional detection unit was installed at the KM3NeT-It site. The first results with two active detection units are presented. An update of the detector status and construction is given.

ANTARES and KM3NeT programs for the supernova neutrino detection

AbstractThe currently working ANTARES neutrino telescope has capabilities to detect neutrinos produced in astrophysical transient sources. Neutrino alerts are regularly generated to trigger multi-wavelength observatories. Potential sources include gamma-ray bursts, core-collapse supernovae, and flaring active galactic nuclei. In particular, the neutrino detection together with the multi-wavelength observations may reveal hidden jets in the supernova explosions.Supernovae remnants are currently the most promising acceleration sites of the cosmic rays in our Galaxy. The neutrino emission is expected during the cosmic ray interaction with the surrounding matter. The neutrino telescopes in the Northern hemisphere have excellent visibility to the most of the galactic supernovae remnants. Recent results on the search for point-sources with the ANTARES detector and the prospects for the future KM3NeT detector are presented.Although ANTARES and KM3NeT detectors are mainly designed for high energy neutrino detection, the MeV neutrino signal from the supernova can be identified as a simultaneous increase of the counting rate of the optical modules in the detector. The noise from the optical background due to 40K decay in the sea water and the bioluminescence can be significantly reduced by using nanosecond coincidences between the nearby placed photomultipliers. This technique has been tested with the ANTARES storeys, each one consisting of three 10-inch photomultipliers, and it is further optimized for the KM3NeT telescope where the directional optical modules containing 31 3-inch photomultipliers provide very promising expectations.

High energy neutrino detection with KM3NeT

The KM3NeT Collaboration has started the construction of a next generation high-energy neutrino telescope in the Mediterranean Sea: the largest and most sensitive neutrino research infrastructure. The full KM3NeT detector will be a several cubic kilometres distributed, networked infrastructure. In Italy, off the coast of Capo Passero, and in France, off the coast of Toulon. Thanks to its location in the Northern hemisphere and to its large instrumented volume, KM3NeT will be the optimal instrument to search for neutrinos from the Southern sky and in particular from the Galactic plane, thus making it complementary to IceCube. In this work the technologically innovative component of the detector, the status of construction and the first results from prototypes of the KM3NeT detector will be described as well as its capability to discover neutrino sources are reported.

The prototype detection unit of the KM3NeT detector

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}.

Acoustic neutrino detection investigations within ANTARES and prospects for KM3NeT

The acoustic neutrino detection technique is a promising approach for future large-scale detectors with the aim of measuring the small expected flux of cosmogenic neutrinos at energies exceeding 1 EeV. It suggests itself to investigate this technique in the context of underwater Cherenkov neutrino telescopes, in particular KM3NeT, because acoustic sensors are present by design to allow for the calibration of the positions of the optical sensors. For the future, the KM3NeT detector in the Mediterranean Sea will provide an ideal infrastructure for a dedicated array of acoustic sensors. In this presentation results from the acoustic array AMADEUS of the ANTARES detector will be discussed with respect to the potential and implications for acoustic neutrino detection with KM3NeT and beyond.

Calibration methods and tools for KM3NeT

The KM3NeT detectors, ARCA and ORCA, composed of several thousands digital optical modules, are in the process of their realization in the Mediterranean Sea. Each optical module contains 31 3-inch photomultipliers. Readout of the optical modules and other detector components is synchronized at the level of sub-nanoseconds. The position of the module is measured by acoustic piezo detectors inside the module and external acoustic emitters installed on the bottom of the sea. The orientation of the module is obtained with an internal attitude and heading reference system chip. Detector calibration, i.e. timing, positioning and sea-water properties, is overviewed in this talk and discussed in detail in this conference. Results of the procedure applied to the first detector unit ready for installation in the deep sea will be shown.

Cascade sensitivity studies for KM3NeT

KM3NeT is a future research infrastructure in the deep seas of the Mediterranean housing a large scale neutrino telescope. The first phase of construction of the telescope has started. Next step is an intermediate phase realising a detector volume of about one-third of the final detector volume. We report on calculations of the sensitivity of the KM3NeT detector to showering neutrino events, the strategy to optimise the detector to a cosmic neutrino flux analogous to the one reported by the IceCube Collaboration and the results of this strategy applied to the intermediate phase detector.

Operation and results of the prototype KM3NeT detection unit

KM3NeT will be a km3 -scale neutrino telescope in the Mediterranean Sea. The detector will consist of blocks of about one hundred detection units. Each detection unit will host 18 digital optical modules, connected along a 700 m-long vertical structure. Electro-optical cables allow for data transmission and power supply to the optical modules. The optical module comprises 31 photomultiplier tubes of 3′′, instruments to monitor environmental variables and electronic boards to communicate onshore and operate the photomultipliers. A prototype detection unit has been deployed in May 2014 at the KM3NeT-It installation site 80 km SE offshore of Capo Passero, Sicily. This prototype allowed to test the deployment procedures, the mechanics and the electronic of the apparatus, the data taking and analysis procedures. A general description of the detector and some results of the prototype are presented. The first detection unit of the KM3NeT neutrino telescope will be deployed and become operative by the end of 2015.

The Trigger and Data Acquisition System for the 8 tower subsystem of the KM3NeT detector

KM3NeT is a deep-sea research infrastructure being constructed in the Mediterranean Sea. It will host a large Cherenkov neutrino telescope that will collect photons emitted along the path of the charged particles produced in neutrino interactions in the vicinity of the detector. The philosophy of the DAQ system of the detector foresees that all data are sent to shore after a proper sampling of the photomultiplier signals. No off-shore hardware trigger is implemented and a software selection of the data is performed with an on-line Trigger and Data Acquisition System (TriDAS) to reduce the large throughput due to the environmental light background. A first version of the TriDAS has been developed to operate a prototype detection unit deployed in March 2013 in the abyssal site of Capo Passero (Sicily, Italy), about 3500m deep. A revised and improved version has been developed to meet the requirements of the final detector, using new tools and modern design solutions. First installation and scalability tests have been performed at the Bologna Common Infrastructure and results comparable to what expected have been observed.

The Central Logic Board for the KM3NeT detector: Design and production

The KM3NeT deep sea neutrino observatory will include a very large number of multi-Photomultiplier (PMT) optical modules (DOM) to detect the Cherenkov light generated by secondary particles produced in neutrino interactions. The Central Logic Board (CLB) has been developed to acquire timing and amplitude information from the PMT signals, implementing time-to-digital conversion (TDC) with time over threshold (TOT) technique. The board is also used to configure all the DOM subsystems, to assist in the DOM position and orientation, calibration and to monitor temperature and humidity in the DOM itself. All the collected data are transmitted to shore using a wide-bandwidth optical network. Moreover, through the optical network, all the DOMs are kept synchronized in time within 1ns precision using the White Rabbit (WR) Precision Time Protocol (PTP) over an Ethernet connection. A large Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) has been adopted to implement all the specifications witht the requested performances. The CLB will be also used in the base container of the detection unit (DU) to set-up and monitor all the requested functionalities: in this scenario a dedicated firmware and software will be deployed on board. The design has been started in early 2013 and several prototypes have been developed. After deep test carried on in different EU laboratories, the final mass production batch of 600 boards has been ordered and built: all the CLB are now ready for integration in the DOMs and base containers. The first two KM3NeT DU will be deployed in summer 2015 and all other units are in advanced stage of integration.

The Central Logic Board and its auxiliary boards for the optical module of the KM3Net detector

The KM3Net neutrino telescope will be composed of many optical modules, each of them containing 31 (3") photomultipliers, connected to a Central Logic Board. The Central Logic Board integrates Time to Digital Converters that measure Time over Threshold of the photomultipliers signals while White Rabbit is used for the optical modules time synchronization. Auxiliary boards have also been designed and built in order to test and extend the performance of the Central Logic Board. The Central Logic Board, as well as the auxiliary boards, will be presented by focusing on the design consideration, prototyping issues and tests.

The KM3NeT deep-sea neutrino telescope

KM3NeT is a deep-sea research infrastructure being constructed in the Mediterranean Sea. It will host the next generation Cherenkov neutrino telescope and nodes for a deep sea multidisciplinary observatory, providing oceanographers, marine biologists, and geophysicists with real time measurements. The neutrino telescope will complement IceCube in its field of view and exceed it substantially in sensitivity. Its main goal is the detection of high energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin. The detector will have a modular structure with six building blocks, each consisting of about 100 Detection Units (DUs). Each DU will be equipped with 18 multi-PMT digital optical modules. The first phase of construction has started and shore and deep-sea infrastructures hosting the future KM3NeT detector are being prepared in offshore Toulon, France and offshore Capo Passero on Sicily, Italy. The technological solutions for the neutrino detector of KM3NeT and the expected performance of the neutrino telescope are presented and discussed.

Status of the KM3NeT project

KM3NeT is a deep-sea research infrastructure being constructed in the Mediterranean Sea. It will be installed at three sites: KM3NeT-Fr, offshore Toulon, France, KM3NeT-It, offshore Portopalo di Capo Passero, Sicily (Italy) and KM3NeT-Gr, offshore Pylos, Peloponnese, Greece. It will host the next generation Cherenkov neutrino telescope and nodes for a deep sea multidisciplinary observatory, providing oceanographers, marine biologists, and geophysicists with real time measurements. The neutrino telescope will search for Galactic and extra-Galactic sources of neutrinos, complementing IceCube in its field of view. The detector will have a modular structure and consists of six building blocks, each including about one hundred Detection Units (DUs). Each DU will be equipped with 18 multi-PMT digital optical modules. The first phase of construction has started and shore and deep-sea infrastructures hosting the future KM3NeT detector are being prepared in France near Toulon and in Italy, near Capo Passero in Sicily. The technological solutions for KM3NeT and the expected performance of the detector are presented and discussed.

ASIC design in the KM3NeT detector

In the KM3NeT project [1], Cherenkov light from the muon interactions with transparent matter around the detector, is used to detect neutrinos. Photo multiplier tubes (PMT) used as photon sensor, are housed in a glass sphere (aka Optical Module) to detect single photons from the Cherenkov light. The PMT needs high operational voltage ( ∼ 1.5 kV) and is generated by a Cockroft-Walton (CW) multiplier circuit. The electronics required to control the PMT's and collect the signals is integrated in two ASIC's namely: 1) a front-end mixed signal ASIC (PROMiS) for the readout of the PMT and 2) an analog ASIC (CoCo) to generate pulses for charging the CW circuit and to control the feedback of the CW circuit. In this article, we discuss the two integrated circuits and test results of the complete setup. PROMiS amplifies the input charge, converts it to a pulse width and delivers the information via LVDS signals. These LVDS signals carry accurate information on the Time of arrival ( < 2 ns) and Time over Threshold. A PROM block provides unique identification to the chip. The chip communicates with the control electronics via an I2C bus. This unique combination of the ASIC's results in a very cost and power efficient PMT base design.

Neutrino Astronomy – A Review of Future Experiments

Current generation neutrino telescopes cover an energy range from about 10 GeV to beyond 109 GeV. IceCube sets the scale for future experiments to make improvements. Strategies for future upgrades will be discussed in three energy ranges. At the low-energy end, an infill detector to IceCubeʼs DeepCore would add sensitivity in the energy range from a few to a few tens of GeV with the primary goal of measuring the neutrino mass hierarchy. In the central energy range of classical optical neutrino telescopes, next generation detectors are being pursued in the Mediterranean and at Lake Baikal. The KM3NeT detector in its full scale would establish a substantial increase in sensitivity over IceCube. At the highest energies, radio detectors in ice are among the most promising and pursued technologies to increase exposure at 109 GeV by more than an order of magnitude compared to IceCube.

The Era of Kilometer-Scale Neutrino Detectors

Neutrino astronomy beyond the Sun was first imagined in the late 1950s; by the 1970s, it was realized that kilometer-scale neutrino detectors were required. The first such instrument, IceCube, transforms a cubic kilometer of deep and ultra-transparent Antarctic ice into a particle detector. KM3NeT, an instrument that aims to exploit several cubic kilometers of the deep Mediterranean sea as its detector medium, is in its final design stages. The scientific missions of these instruments include searching for sources of cosmic rays and for dark matter, observing Galactic supernova explosions, and studying the neutrinos themselves. Identifying the accelerators that produce Galactic and extragalactic cosmic rays has been a priority mission of several generations of high-energy gamma-ray and neutrino telescopes; success has been elusive so far. Detecting the gamma-ray and neutrino fluxes associated with cosmic rays reaches a new watershed with the completion of IceCube, the first neutrino detector with sensitivity to the anticipated fluxes. In this paper, we will first revisit the rationale for constructing kilometer-scale neutrino detectors. We will subsequently recall the methods for determining the arrival direction, energy and flavor of neutrinos, and will subsequently describe the architecture of the IceCube and KM3NeT detectors.