Deep-sea research infrastructure for high-energy neutrino astronomy

Current technology and understanding of neutrino properties allow the study of the Universe in the “light” of neutrinos. The goal is to unravel the acceleration mechanism of energetic cosmic particles and to search for neutrino point sources and dark matter. An efficient detection of high-energy (1–1000 TeV) neutrinos originating from galactic and extragalactic sources requires a deep-sea telescope of km 3 size exploiting the measurement of Cherenkov light for accurate determination of light arrival times and amplitudes, to allow the reconstruction of neutrino direction and energy. Based on experience with pilot projects in the Mediterranean Sea, the detector concept has been developed. Different geometries, optical sensors, readout electronics, options for long distance data transfer, and deployment issues have been evaluated.