The prototyping/early construction phase of the BAIKAL-GVD project

Abstract

The Prototyping phase of the BAIKAL-GVD project has been started in April 2011 with the deployment of a three string engineering array which comprises all basic elements and systems of the Gigaton Volume Detector (GVD) in Lake Baikal. In April 2012 the version of engineering array which comprises the first full-scale string of the GVD demonstration cluster has been deployed and operated during 2012. The first stage of the GVD demonstration cluster which consists of three strings is deployed in April 2013. We review the Prototyping phase of the BAIKAL-GVD project and describe the configuration and design of the 2013 engineering array.

Search for the Galactic Disk and Halo Components in the Arrival Directions of High-Energy Astrophysical Neutrinos

“…Further studies of high-energy neutrinos are mandatory to make stronger conclusions. In particular, more uniform full-sky statistics is important for global anisotropy studies, and will be provided in coming years with joint efforts of the South-Pole IceCube and Northern-hemisphere experiments: Baikal-GVD [22,23,24], whose first cluster is taking data since Figure 4. Distribution of arrival directions in the angular distance to the Galactic Center.…”

The optical module of Baikal-GVD

“…The objective of the Baikal Project is the creation of a kilometer-scale high-energy neutrino observatory: the Gigaton Volume Detector (GVD) in Lake Baikal [1][2][3][4]. The first phase of GVD will consist of 12 independent (i.e.…”

Baikal-GVD: Results, status and plans

“…The next generation neutrino telescope Baikal-GVD is a kilometer-scale deep underwater Cherenkov detector currently under construction in Lake Baikal [1]. Baikal-GVD is designed to detect astrophysical neutrino fluxes at energies from a few TeV up to the highest energies of 10 6 TeV and particularly mapping the high-energy neutrino sky in the Southern Hemisphere including the region of the Galactic center.…”

“…The next important step in the realization of the GVD project was made in 2013 by deployment of an enlarged engineering array -the first stage of the first GVD-cluster, which comprised 72 OMs arranged on three 345 m long strings and operated from April 2013 to February 2014 [1,7]. In 2014 the second stage of the demonstration cluster, which comprised 112 OMs arranged on five strings, as well as an instrumentation string with array calibration and environment monitoring equipment, was deployed.…”