Status and first results of the ANTARES neutrino telescope

TL;DR

The ANTARES neutrino telescope, the largest underwater detector of its kind, has been operational since 2008, providing initial results and demonstrating its potential for neutrino astronomy with a 12-line array in the Mediterranean Sea.

Contribution

This paper reports the deployment and initial results of the ANTARES neutrino telescope, a large-scale underwater detector optimized for neutrino detection.

Findings

Operational since 2008 with full 12-line array

First results obtained with 5-line configuration

Demonstrates feasibility of underwater neutrino detection

Abstract

The ANTARES (Astronomy with a Neutrino Telescope and Abyss environmental RESearch) Collaboration constructed and deployed the world's largest operational underwater neutrino telescope, optimised for the detection of Cherenkov light produced by neutrino-induced muons. The detector has an effective area of about 0.1 square km and it is a first step towards a kilometric scale detector. The detector consists of a three-dimensional array of 884 photomultiplier tubes, arranged in 12 lines anchored at a depth of 2475 m in the Mediterranean Sea, 40 km offshore from Toulon (France). An additional instrumented line is used for environmental monitoring and for neutrino acoustic detection R&D. ANTARES is taking data with its full twelve line configuration since May 2008 and had been also doing so for more than a year before a five and ten line setups. First results obtained with the 5 line setup are presented.