Simulation Chain for Acoustic Ultra-high Energy Neutrino Detectors

TL;DR

This paper presents a flexible Monte Carlo simulation chain for acoustic ultra-high energy neutrino detectors in water, covering signal generation, propagation, noise modeling, and data processing, aiding detector design and analysis.

Contribution

It introduces a modular, adaptable simulation framework within SeaTray/IceTray for acoustic neutrino detection, including noise modeling and data processing algorithms.

Findings

Simulation chain successfully models acoustic signals and noise in water.

Preliminary studies demonstrate the framework's application for detector design.

Integrated algorithms enable on-line filtering and source reconstruction.

Abstract

Acoustic neutrino detection is a promising approach for large-scale ultra-high energy neutrino detectors in water. In this article, a Monte Carlo simulation chain for acoustic neutrino detection devices in water is presented. It is designed within the SeaTray/IceTray software framework. Its modular architecture is highly flexible and makes it easy to adapt to different environmental conditions, detector geometries, and hardware. The simulation chain covers the generation of the acoustic pulse produced by a neutrino interaction and the propagation to the sensors within the detector. In this phase of the development, ambient and transient noise models for the Mediterranean Sea and simulations of the data acquisition hardware, similar to the one used in ANTARES/AMADEUS, are implemented. A pre-selection scheme for neutrino-like signals based on matched filtering is employed, as it can be used for on-line filtering. To simulate the whole processing chain for experimental data, signal classification and acoustic source reconstruction algorithms are integrated. In this contribution, an overview of the design and capabilities of the simulation chain will be given, and some applications and preliminary studies will be presented.