Dr. Thomas Eberl, Erlangen Centre for Astroparticle Physics (ECAP): "Towards high-energy astrophysics with the neutrino telescope ANTARES"

Monday 9 Jul 2012, 14:15 → 16:00 Europe/Berlin

Seminarraum 3344 (T 30) (TUM, Physik Department T30)

Abstract: The ANTARES deep-sea neutrino telescope currently is the largest neutrino detector in the Northern Hemisphere. The instrument consists of a three-dimensional array of 885 photomultiplier tubes, arranged in 12 lines anchored at a depth of 2500 m in the Mediterranean Sea, 40 km offshore from Toulon (France). The photomultiplier tubes detect the Cherenkov radiation of charged secondary particles produced by high-energy neutrinos interacting in or around the detector. Charged-current interactions of muon neutrinos is the reaction channel of central interest. The trajectories of the resulting muons are reconstructed with high precision, revealing the direction of the incoming neutrinos. The calibration, performance and long-term stability of the detector will be discussed, in particular with regard to the planned second generation instrument KM3NeT. Studies have been underway to search for cosmic neutrino point sources in the ANTARES data since 2007. Results from these studies, the sensitivity of the telescope and recent multi-messenger efforts will be discussed.