Speaker
Description
Neutrino telescopes are at the forefront of high-energy astrophysics, offering unique insights into some of the most extreme and energetic phenomena in the Universe. The ANTARES detector, which operated for 16 years off the coast of Toulon (France) until 2022, has played a pioneering role in deep-sea neutrino observations. Building upon its legacy, the next-generation KM3NeT-ARCA observatory is currently under construction in the deep waters of the Mediterranean near Southern Italy, designed to push the boundaries of astrophysical neutrino detection.
ANTARES consisted of 12 vertical detection lines equipped with optical modules, each housing a 10” photomultiplier tube to capture the faint Cherenkov light from neutrino interactions in the surrounding water. In contrast, KM3NeT-ARCA will be vastly more sensitive, comprising 230 detection lines, each holding 18 optical modules, with every module integrating an array of 31 compact 3” photomultiplier tubes.
In recent years, the search for astrophysical neutrino sources has gained momentum, as their detection would provide crucial evidence of hadronic acceleration mechanisms at play in the most powerful cosmic environments. This study analyses the combined dataset from ANTARES and the available KM3NeT-ARCA observations, focusing on the detection of high-energy neutrinos from both point-like and diffuse sources.
A comprehensive catalog of about 100 point-like and extended astrophysical sources has been examined for potential neutrino emissions. This selection includes prominent γ-ray emitters, Galactic γ-ray sources with possible hadronic components (TeVCat), extragalactic AGNs with intense radio flux detected by VLBI, and the most promising candidates previously investigated by IceCube. The results of this analysis represent a significant step toward uncovering the origin of cosmic neutrinos and advancing multi-messenger astronomy.
