High-Energy Astrophysics with Neutrino Telescopes

TL;DR

This paper reviews the motivations, current experimental status, and technological developments in high-energy neutrino astrophysics, emphasizing underwater and under-ice Cherenkov detectors, including efforts to build a km3-scale detector in the Mediterranean Sea.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of the field, highlighting recent progress and technological innovations for large-scale neutrino detection in natural environments.

Findings

Neutrino telescopes can probe the universe's most energetic phenomena.

Current detectors have achieved significant results in neutrino astronomy.

Development of km3-scale detectors is underway in the Mediterranean Sea.

Abstract

Neutrino astrophysics offers new perspectives on the Universe investigation: high energy neutrinos, produced by the most energetic phenomena in our Galaxy and in the Universe, carry complementary (if not exclusive) information about the cosmos with respect to photons. While the small interaction cross section of neutrinos allows them to come from the core of astrophysical objects, it is also a drawback, as their detection requires a large target mass. This is why it is convenient put huge cosmic neutrino detectors in natural locations, like deep underwater or under-ice sites. In order to supply for such extremely hostile environmental conditions, new frontiers technologies are under development. The aim of this work is to review the motivations for high energy neutrino astrophysics, the present status of experimental results and the technologies used in underwater/ice Cherenkov experiments, with a special focus on the efforts for the construction of a km3 scale detector in the Mediterranean Sea.