Acoustic detection of UHE neutrinos: ANDIAMO perspectives

TL;DR

This paper explores the use of offshore oil rigs in the Adriatic Sea as a large-scale acoustic array to detect ultra-high-energy neutrinos through their thermo-acoustic signals, aiming to identify cosmic accelerators.

Contribution

It proposes a novel infrastructure using decommissioned offshore oil rigs as a large-area acoustic detector array for UHE neutrinos, expanding detection capabilities.

Findings

Potential for large-area undersea neutrino detection

Use of existing offshore infrastructure reduces costs

Enhanced sensitivity to neutrinos above 10^18 eV

Abstract

A possible detection of ultra-high-energy neutrinos has been attempted since decades through the Askarian radiation and different observation techniques. In fact, when such energetic neutrinos interact in a medium are able to produce a thermo-acoustic effect resulting in a bipolar pressure pulse that carries a portion of the energy generated by the particle cascades. This effect can be observed in atmosphere looking for the correlated radio emission and in ice/water searching directly the acoustic pulse. The kilometric attenuation length as well as the well-defined shape of the expected pulse favors a large-area-undersea-array of acoustic sensors as a possible observatory. Previous efforts of taking data with a undersea hydrophones array were obtained thanks to already installed submarine military arrays or acoustic system built to calibrate the positions of Cherenkov light detector units. In this proceeding we propose to use the based but not operative offshore oil rigs powered platforms in the Adriatic sea as the main infrastructure to build an acoustic submarine array of dedicated hydrophones covering a total surface area up to $\sim$10000 Km$^{2}$ and a volume up to $\sim$500 Km$^{3}$. A future identification of neutrino events at energies greater than 10$^{18}$ eV will confirm the presence of powerful accelerators in our Universe able to emit cosmic rays up to ZeV energy range.