URL: https://physikseminar.desy.de/hamburg/colloquia_in_2009/june_23_2009/@@siteview
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The ANTARES Deep-Sea Neutrino Telescope
Paschal Coyle (CPPM, Marseille)
Until now most information we have of the Universe has been conveyed by photons originating in electromagnetic processes. Neutrino telescopes offer the possibility to see the Universe with new ‘eyes’, allowing the study of the most powerful cosmic accelerators via high-energy neutrinos generated in hadronic processes.
The ANTARES detector is the world’s first operating deep-sea neutrino telescope. It is located at a depth of 2475m in the Mediterranean Sea, close to Toulon, France. ANTARES comprises a three dimensional array of 885 photomultipliers, designed to detect the Cherenkov light produced by neutrino-induced muons passing close to the detector. Since June 2008, the construction of the detector is complete.
In this seminar, various aspects of the detector construction are described and the methods used to calibrate the detector are discussed. Recent results obtained with the first data will be presented and in particular searches for point-like cosmic neutrino sources will be detailed.
The ANTARES deep-sea infrastructure also provides synergetic opportunities for research in oceanography, seismology and marine sciences; some examples of these interdisciplinary activities will be highlighted.
Finally, some aspects of the planned next generation cubic-kilometre neutrino telescope, KM3NET, will be discussed.
