Methods for the suppression of background cascades produced along atmospheric muon tracks in the Baikal-GVD

TL;DR

This paper discusses methods developed to suppress background cascade events caused by atmospheric muon tracks in the Baikal-GVD neutrino telescope, enhancing the detection of genuine high-energy neutrino cascades.

Contribution

The paper introduces and evaluates specific techniques for reducing background cascades from muon tracks in the Baikal-GVD detector.

Findings

Methods effectively suppress background cascades.

Improved signal-to-noise ratio for neutrino detection.

Enhanced accuracy in identifying true neutrino events.

Abstract

The Baikal-GVD (Gigaton Volume Detector) is a km$^{3}$- scale neutrino telescope located in Lake Baikal. Currently (year 2021) the Baikal-GVD is composed of 2304 optical modules divided to 8 independent detection units, called clusters. Specific neutrino interactions can cause Cherenkov light topology, referred to as a cascade. However, cascade-like events originate from discrete stochastic energy losses along muon tracks. These cascades produce the most abundant background in searching for high-energy neutrino cascade events. Several methods have been developed, optimized, and tested to suppress background cascades.