The KM3NeT deep-sea neutrino telescope

TL;DR

KM3NeT is a large deep-sea neutrino telescope in the Mediterranean designed to detect high-energy astrophysical neutrinos, offering enhanced sensitivity and multidisciplinary oceanographic capabilities.

Contribution

This paper presents the technological design, construction status, and expected performance of the KM3NeT neutrino telescope, a next-generation detector surpassing IceCube in sensitivity.

Findings

Modular detector structure with six building blocks

Deployment of multi-PMT optical modules in Detection Units

Construction and infrastructure development underway

Abstract

KM3NeT is a deep-sea research infrastructure being constructed in the Mediterranean Sea. It will host the next generation Cherenkov neutrino telescope and nodes for a deep sea multidisciplinary observatory, providing oceanographers, marine biologists, and geophysicists with real time measurements. The neutrino telescope will complement IceCube in its field of view and exceed it substantially in sensitivity. Its main goal is the detection of high energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin. The detector will have a modular structure with six building blocks, each consisting of about one hundred Detection Units (DUs). Each DU will be equipped with 18 multi-PMT digital optical modules. The first phase of construction has started and shore and deep-sea infrastructures hosting the future KM3NeT detector are being prepared offshore Toulon, France and offshore Capo Passero on Sicily, Italy. The technological solutions for the neutrino detector of KM3NeT and the expected performance of the neutrino telescope are presented and discussed.