Akindinov, V. et al, Colomer, M., Gozzini, S. R., Hernandez-Rey, J. J., Khan Chowdhury, N. R., Thakore, T., et al. (2019). Letter of interest for a neutrino beam from Protvino to KM3NeT/ORCA. Eur. Phys. J. C, 79(9), 758–14pp.
Abstract: The Protvino accelerator facility located in the Moscow region, Russia, is in a good position to offer a rich experimental research program in the field of neutrino physics. Of particular interest is the possibility to direct a neutrino beam from Protvino towards the KM3NeT/ORCA detector, which is currently under construction in the Mediterranean Sea 40 km offshore Toulon, France. This proposal is known as P2O. Thanks to its baseline of 2595 km, this experiment would yield an unparalleled sensitivity to matter effects in the Earth, allowing for the determination of the neutrino mass ordering with a high level of certainty after only a few years of running at a modest beam intensity of sensitivity to the leptonic CP-violating Dirac phase can be achieved. A second stage of the experiment, comprising a further intensity upgrade of the accelerator complex and a densified version of the ORCA detector (Super-ORCA), would allow for up to a 6 sigma\documentclass[12pt] resolution on the CP phase after 10 years of running with a 450 kW beam, competitive with other planned experiments. The initial composition and energy spectrum of the neutrino beam would need to be monitored by a near detector, to be constructed several hundred meters downstream from the proton beam target. The same neutrino beam and near detector set-up would also allow for neutrino-nucleus cross section measurements to be performed. A short-baseline sterile neutrino search experiment would also be possible.
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KM3NeT Collaboration(Aiello, S. et al), Alves Garre, S., Calvo, D., Carretero, V., Colomer, M., Garcia Soto, A., et al. (2022). The KM3NeT multi-PMT optical module. J. Instrum., 17(7), P07038–28pp.
Abstract: The optical module of the KM3NeT neutrino telescope is an innovative multi-faceted large area photodetection module. It contains 31 three-inch photomultiplier tubes in a single 0.44 m diameter pressure-resistant glass sphere. The module is a sensory device also comprising calibration instruments and electronics for power, readout and data acquisition. It is capped with a breakout-box with electronics for connection to an electro-optical cable for power and long-distance communication to the onshore control station. The design of the module was qualified for the first time in the deep sea in 2013. Since then, the technology has been further improved to meet requirements of scalability, cost-effectiveness and high reliability. The module features a sub-nanosecond timing accuracy and a dynamic range allowing the measurement of a single photon up to a cascade of thousands of photons, suited for the measurement of the Cherenkov radiation induced in water by secondary particles from interactions of neutrinos with energies in the range of GeV to PeV. A distributed production model has been implemented for the delivery of more than 6000 modules in the coming few years with an average production rate of more than 100 modules per month. In this paper a review is presented of the design of the multi-PMT KM3NeT optical module with a proven effective background suppression and signal recognition and sensitivity to the incoming direction of photons.
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KM3NeT Collaboration(Aiello, S. et al), Calvo, D., Coleiro, A., Colomer, M., Gozzini, S. R., Hernandez-Rey, J. J., et al. (2019). KM3NeT front-end and readout electronics system: hardware, firmware, and software. J. Astron. Telesc. Instrum. Syst., 5(4), 046001–15pp.
Abstract: The KM3NeT research infrastructure being built at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea will host water-Cherenkov telescopes for the detection of cosmic neutrinos. The neutrino telescopes will consist of large volume three-dimensional grids of optical modules to detect the Cherenkov light from charged particles produced by neutrino-induced interactions. Each optical module houses 31 3-in. photomultiplier tubes, instrumentation for calibration of the photomultiplier signal and positioning of the optical module, and all associated electronics boards. By design, the total electrical power consumption of an optical module has been capped at seven Watts. We present an overview of the front-end and readout electronics system inside the optical module, which has been designed for a 1-ns synchronization between the clocks of all optical modules in the grid during a life time of at least 20 years. (C) 2019 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)
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KM3NeT Collaboration(Aiello, S. et al), Alves Garre, S., Calvo, D., Carretero, V., Colomer, M., Garcia Soto, A., et al. (2022). Implementation and first results of the KM3NeT real-time core-collapse supernova neutrino search. Eur. Phys. J. C, 82(4), 317–16pp.
Abstract: The KM3NeT research infrastructure is unconstruction in the Mediterranean Sea. KM3NeT will study atmospheric and astrophysical neutrinos with two multi-purpose neutrino detectors, ARCA and ORCA, primarily aimed at GeV-PeV neutrinos. Thanks to the multi-photomultiplier tube design of the digital optical modules, KM3NeT is capable of detecting the neutrino burst from a Galactic or near-Galactic core-collapse supernova. This potential is already exploitable with the first detection units deployed in the sea. This paper describes the real-time implementation of the supernova neutrino search, operating on the two KM3NeT detectors since the first months of 2019. A quasi-online astronomy analysis is introduced to study the time profile of the detected neutrinos for especially significant events. The mechanism of generation and distribution of alerts, as well as the integration into the SNEWS and SNEWS 2.0 global alert systems, are described. The approach for the follow-up of external alerts with a search for a neutrino excess in the archival data is defined. Finally, an overview of the current detector capabilities and a report after the first two years of operation are given.
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KM3NeT Collaboration(Aitllo, S. et al), Alves Garre, S., Calvo, D., Carretero, V., Garcia Soto, A., Gozzini, S. R., et al. (2023). Probing invisible neutrino decay with KM3NeT/ORCA. J. High Energy Phys., 04(4), 090–30pp.
Abstract: In the era of precision measurements of the neutrino oscillation parameters, upcoming neutrino experiments will also be sensitive to physics beyond the Standard Model. KM3NeT/ORCA is a neutrino detector optimised for measuring atmospheric neutrinos from a few GeV to around 100 GeV. In this paper, the sensitivity of the KM3NeT/ORCA detector to neutrino decay has been explored. A three-flavour neutrino oscillation scenario, where the third neutrino mass state v3 decays into an invisible state, e.g. a sterile neutrino, is considered. We find that KM3NeT/ORCA would be sensitive to invisible neutrino decays with 1/alpha 3 = T3/m3 < 180 ps/eV at 90% confidence level, assuming true normal ordering. Finally, the impact of neutrino decay on the precision of KM3NeT/ORCA measurements for theta(23), Delta m(31)(2) and mass ordering have been studied. No significant effect of neutrino decay on the sensitivity to these measurements has been found.
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KM3NeT Collaboration(Aiello, S. et al), Alves Garre, S., Calvo, D., Carretero, V., Garcia Soto, A., Gozzini, S. R., et al. (2023). First observation of the cosmic ray shadow of the Moon and the Sun with KM3NeT/ORCA. Eur. Phys. J. C, 83(4), 344–9pp.
Abstract: This article reports the first observation of the Moon and the Sun shadows in the sky distribution of cosmicray induced muons measured by the KM3NeT/ORCA detector. The analysed data-taking period spans from February 2020 to November 2021, when the detector had 6 Detection Units deployed at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea, each composed of 18 Digital Optical Modules. The shadows induced by theMoon and the Sun were detected at their nominal position with a statistical significance of 4.2 sigma and 6.2 sigma, and an angular resolution of sigma(res) = 0.49 degrees and sigma(res) = 0.66 degrees, respectively, consistent with the prediction of 0.53 degrees from simulations. This early result confirms the effectiveness of the detector calibration, in time, position and orientation and the accuracy of the event direction reconstruction. This also demonstrates the performance and the competitiveness of the detector in terms of pointing accuracy and angular resolution.
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KM3NeT Collaboration(Aiello, S. et al), Alves Garre, S., Bariego-Quintana, A., Calvo, D., Carretero, V., Garcia Soto, A., et al. (2024). Searches for neutrino counterparts of gravitational waves from the LIGO/Virgo third observing run with KM3NeT. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 04(4), 026–28pp.
Abstract: The KM3NeT neutrino telescope is currently being deployed at two different sites in the Mediterranean Sea. First searches for astrophysical neutrinos have been performed using data taken with the partial detector configuration already in operation. The paper presents the results of two independent searches for neutrinos from compact binary mergers detected during the third observing run of the LIGO and Virgo gravitational wave interferometers. The first search looks for a global increase in the detector counting rates that could be associated with inverse beta decay events generated by MeV-scale electron anti -neutrinos. The second one focuses on upgoing track -like events mainly induced by muon (anti -)neutrinos in the GeV-TeV energy range. Both searches yield no significant excess for the sources in the gravitational wave catalogs. For each source, upper limits on the neutrino flux and on the total energy emitted in neutrinos in the respective energy ranges have been set. Stacking analyses of binary black hole mergers and neutron star -black hole mergers have also been performed to constrain the characteristic neutrino emission from these categories.
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KM3NeT Collaboration(Aiello, S. et al), Alves Garre, S., Calvo, D., Carretero, V., Colomer, M., Garcia Soto, A., et al. (2022). Combined sensitivity of JUNO and KM3NeT/ORCA to the neutrino mass ordering. J. High Energy Phys., 03(3), 055–31pp.
Abstract: This article presents the potential of a combined analysis of the JUNO and KM3NeT/ORCA experiments to determine the neutrino mass ordering. This combination is particularly interesting as it significantly boosts the potential of either detector, beyond simply adding their neutrino mass ordering sensitivities, by removing a degeneracy in the determination of Delta M-31(2) between the two experiments when assuming the wrong ordering. The study is based on the latest projected performances for JUNO, and on simulation tools using a full Monte Carlo approach to the KM3NeT/ORCA response with a careful assessment of its energy systematics. From this analysis, a 5 sigma determination of the neutrino mass ordering is expected after 6 years of joint data taking for any value of the oscillation parameters. This sensitivity would be achieved after only 2 years of joint data taking assuming the current global best-fit values for those parameters for normal ordering.
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KM3NeT Collaboration(Ageron, M. et al), Calvo, D., Coleiro, A., Colomer, M., Gozzini, S. R., Hernandez-Rey, J. J., et al. (2020). Dependence of atmospheric muon flux on seawater depth measured with the first KM3NeT detection units. Eur. Phys. J. C, 80(2), 99–11pp.
Abstract: KM3NeT is a research infrastructure located in the Mediterranean Sea, that will consist of two deep-sea Cherenkov neutrino detectors. With one detector (ARCA), the KM3NeT Collaboration aims at identifying and studying TeV-PeV astrophysical neutrino sources. With the other detector (ORCA), the neutrino mass ordering will be determined by studying GeV-scale atmospheric neutrino oscillations. The first KM3NeT detection units were deployed at the Italian and French sites between 2015 and 2017. In this paper, a description of the detector is presented, together with a summary of the procedures used to calibrate the detector in-situ. Finally, the measurement of the atmospheric muon flux between 2232-3386 m seawater depth is obtained.
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Hernandez-Rey, J. J., Ardid, M., Bou Cabo, M., Calvo, D., Diaz, A. F., Gozzini, S. R., et al. (2022). Science with Neutrino Telescopes in Spain. Universe, 8(2), 89–25pp.
Abstract: The primary scientific goal of neutrino telescopes is the detection and study of cosmic neutrino signals. However, the range of physics topics that these instruments can tackle is exceedingly wide and diverse. Neutrinos coming from outside the Earth, in association with other messengers, can contribute to clarify the question of the mechanisms that power the astrophysical accelerators which are known to exist from the observation of high-energy cosmic and gamma rays. Cosmic neutrinos can also be used to bring relevant information about the nature of dark matter, to study the intrinsic properties of neutrinos and to look for physics beyond the Standard Model. Likewise, atmospheric neutrinos can be used to study an ample variety of particle physics issues, such as neutrino oscillation phenomena, the determination of the neutrino mass ordering, non-standard neutrino interactions, neutrino decays and a diversity of other physics topics. In this article, we review a selected number of these topics, chosen on the basis of their scientific relevance and the involvement in their study of the Spanish physics community working in the KM3NeT and ANTARES neutrino telescopes.
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