Status of NEMO: results from the NEMO Phase-1 detector

TL;DR

The paper reports on the deployment and testing of the NEMO Phase-1 underwater detector, validating design solutions for future km$^3$ neutrino telescopes through data analysis and comparison with simulations.

Contribution

It presents the first results from the NEMO Phase-1 detector, demonstrating the feasibility of the design for future large-scale neutrino telescopes.

Findings

Successful validation of the detector's design solutions

Accurate reconstruction of atmospheric muon tracks

Good agreement between measured data and Monte Carlo simulations

Abstract

The NEMO Collaboration installed an underwater detector including most of the critical elements of a possible km$^3$ neutrino telescope: a four-floor tower (called Mini-Tower) and a Junction Box, including the data transmission, the power distribution, the timing calibration and the acoustic positioning systems. These technical solutions will be evaluated, among others proposed for the construction of the km$^3$ detector, within the KM3NeT Consortium. The main test of this test experiment was the validation of the proposed design solutions mentioned above. We present results of the analysis of data collected with the NEMO Mini-Tower. The position of PMTs is determined through the acoustic position system; signals detected with PMTs are used to reconstruct the tracks of atmospheric muons. The angular distribution of atmospheric muons was measured and results were compared with Monte Carlo simulations.