KM3NeTThe Birth of a Giant

V. Popa,

KM3NeT CollaborationInstitute for Space Sciences,

Magurele-Bucharest, Romania

KM3NeT will be a very large volume (> km3 ) Neutrino Telescope, to be deployed in the Mediterranean Sea, after 2012.

The consortium includes 40 Institutes or University groups from 10 European countries.The research is financed trough 2 European projects: “KM3NeT-DS” and “KM3NeT-PP”.

There will be room for Earth and Ocean Sciences.

Official web page: http://www.km3net.org

One of the Magnificent Seven of the ASPERA Roadmap

Status of the KM3NeT – Design Study

• The Design Study ends in October this year.• The Conceptual Design Report published in April 2008.

• The Technical Design Report due till Christmas, some fundamental choices will have to be made…

• Location• Architecture• Optical modules • Power and data management• ………

KM3NeT takes advantage on the 3 pilot experiments

ANTARES

NEMO

NESTOR

All in the Mediterranean Sea

Most of the involved people are members of the KM3NeT

KM3NeT takes advantage on the 3 pilot experiments

ANTARES

NEMO

NESTOR

This is why other neutrino telescopes (AMANDA, IceCUBE, Baikal, DUMAND) are not included in the list.

KM3NeT takes advantage on the 3 pilot experiments

ANTARES

NEMO

NESTOR

-The only undersea neutrino telescope successfully deployed and tacking data

- Introducing and testing a different structure concept: the towers.

- First successful long term operation of a neutrino telescope floor at ~4000 m in 2003 .The star structure, and a new deployment strategy

- All have taught us that the marriage between neutrino physics and deep sea is not always a happy one…

Architecture: Optical Modules

• Single large (8”, 10”) PMTs?

Architecture: Optical Modules

• Many (31) small (~3”) PMTs?

Architecture: the detection units. “MEDUSA”

• ANTARES-like strings.

SOMMOM

SOM

Breakout

Architecture: the detection units “NuONE”

• NEMO-like towers.

8m

Architecture: the detection units. “SeaWiet”

• New ideas.

-Full readout to shore via fiber-Optics

Self-sustained OMs

Many strings might be deployed in the same operation

Decisions to be taken soon, based on intensive detector simulations and cost estimations

Common Layout91 Detector UnitsHexagon20 storeys per DU30m between storey

Compare configurationsDU spacing: 100, 130m, 160mfor each analysed configurations

Architecture: overall layouts

Homogeneous Cluster Ring …….

The site3 candidate locations, corresponding to the pilot

experiments• The depth. (Deeper is better? But also more expensive…)• Water optical properties• Distance to the shore station• The bioluminescence• The 40K concentration• Current flow• Sediment flux• Shore infrastructure (ports, roads, airports…)• Cost effectiveness (including possible contributions from the local Governments)• Synergy with other undersea projects (GMES – Global Monitoring for Environment and Security, GOOS - Global Ocean Observing Systems, EuroGOOS, DEOS –Dynamics of Earth and Ocean System, EMSO – KM3NeT will be one of its nodes)• …

Status of the KM3NeT – Preparatory Phase

• The project started last year and is due to end in 2012

The primary objective of the KM3NeT Preparatory Phase is to pave the path to political and scientific convergence on the legal, governance, financial engineering and site related aspects of the infrastructure and to prepare rapid and efficient construction once approved. As has become apparent in the ongoing KM3NeT Design Study, reconciliation of national and regional political and financial priorities with scientific and technological considerations will be a major issue

The main scientific goal: Neutrino Astronomy

How does it work?

The main scientific goal: Neutrino Astronomy

• Point Sources• Supernova Remnants• Microquasars• Gamma Ray Bursters• Hidden Sources (not seen in other “wavelengths”)

Neutrino Astronomy: Sky coverage

From the South: IceCube(angular resolution~ 10 )

From the North:KM3NeT(angular resolution ~ 0.10)

Muon neutrinos interactions are the golden channel for point sources searches, but a very large volume neutrino telescope will be sensitive to all neutrino flavors!

Other scientific goals:

• Diffuse neutrino flux

• Dark Matter

• Exotic Particles

• Atmospheric muons and neutrinos

• Neutrino Cross Sections

• …

• GUT Magnetic Monopoles

• Intermediate mass Magnetic Monopoles

• Nuclearites

•Q-balls

• …

KM3NeT sensitivity to exotic particles (one year of data tacking) should be at the level of 10-18 cm-2 s-1 sr-

1 , depending on:

• The actual geometry of the telescope• The efficiency of the dedicated triggers• The efficiency of the off-line analysis (background removal, reconstruction strategy, etc.)

Intensive simulations to be made after the completion of the Technical Design Report…

Conclusions…