The ICARUS Experiment, A Second-Generation Proton Decay Experiment and Neutrino Observatory at the Gran Sasso Laboratory

TL;DR

The ICARUS experiment demonstrates large-scale liquid Argon detector technology for proton decay and neutrino studies, with initial results from the T600 detector paving the way for a multi-kiloton observatory.

Contribution

This paper reports the successful construction and initial operation of the T600 liquid Argon detector as a milestone towards a larger 5000-ton neutrino observatory.

Findings

T600 detector successfully operated at LNGS

Development of infrastructure for large liquid Argon detectors

Initial physics program outlined for the first phase

Abstract

The final phase of the ICARUS physics program requires a sensitive mass of liquid Argon of 5000 tons or more. The T600 detector stands today as the first living proof that such large detector can be built and that liquid Argon imaging technology can be implemented on such large scales. After the successful completion of a series of technical tests to be performed at the assembly hall in Pavia, the T600 detector will be ready to be transported into the LNGS tunnel. The operation of the T600 at the LNGS will allow us (1) to develop the local infrastructure needed to operate our large detector (2) to start the handling of the underground liquid argon technology (3) to study the local background (4) to start the data taking with an initial liquid argon mass that will reach in a 5-6 year program the multi-kton goal. The T600 is to be considered as the first milestone on the road towards a total sensitive mass of 5000 tons: it is the first piece of the detector to be complemented by further modules of appropriate size and dimensions, in order to reach in a most efficient and rapid way the final design mass. In this document, we describe the physics program that will be accomplished within the first phase of the program.