Acoustic detection of high energy neutrinos in sea water: status and prospects

Abstract

Abstract. The acoustic neutrino detection technique is a promising approach for future large-scale detectors with the aim of measuring the small expected flux of neutrinos at energies in the EeV-range and above. The technique is based on the thermo-acoustic model, which implies that the energy deposition by a particle cascade -resulting from a neutrino interaction in a medium with suitable thermal and acoustic properties -leads to a local heating and a subsequent characteristic pressure pulse that propagates in the surrounding medium. Current or recent test setups for acoustic neutrino detection have either been add-ons to optical neutrino telescopes or have been using acoustic arrays built for other purposes, typically for military use. While these arrays have been too small to derive competitive limits on neutrino fluxes, they allowed for detailed studies of the experimental technique. With the advent of the research infrastructure KM3NeT in the Mediterranean Sea, new possibilities will arise for acoustic neutrino detection. In this article, results from the "first generation" of acoustic arrays will be summarized and implications for the future of acoustic neutrino detection will be discussed.

Ionoacoustic detection of swift heavy ions

“…First ideas to use thermoacoustic phenomena for particle detection date back to the experimental studies of Sulak et al [1] and Askariyan et al [2]. The technique has seriously been considered for underwater ultra-high neutrino detection for which appropriate detector arrays have been developed [3,4]. There have also been attempts to use the acoustic signal induced by the characteristic dose deposition of an ion pulse in context of radiation therapy [5,6].…”