Baikal Deep Underwater Gigaton Volume Neutrino Telescope (Baikal-GVD

Participating countries and international organizations:

Czech Republic, Kazakhstan, Russia, Slovakia.

The problem under study and the main purpose of the research:

Implementation of the project that includes the modernization and development of the Baikal deep-water detector up to a detection volume of 1 km³ in studies of high-energy neutrino fluxes of astrophysical origin.

Project:

Brief annotation and scientific rationale:

Baikal-GVD project is further development of gigaton volume neutrino telescope for research in the field of multichannel astronomy, study of the fundamental properties of the most energetic cosmic neutrinos, indirect search for galactic “dark” matter and applied research. The Baikal-GVD Collaboration is constructing a neutrino telescope in Lake Baikal. Arrays of light-sensitive elements record the Čerenkov light produced by fast travelling charged particles in the lake water, these particles could originate from interactions of neutrinos. The energy and direction of the original neutrinos reconstructed from the amount of Čerenkov photons and their time-of-arrival in the detector. The telescope is measuring cosmic neutrinos and searching for their sources as well as possible neutrino flux from Dark Matter annihilation and other rare phenomena. The scientific program of the project will be focused on fundamental problems of astrophysics and elementary particle physics: identification of astrophysical sources of ultrahigh-energy neutrinos, mechanisms of formation and evolution of galaxies, neutrino geophysics, etc. In particular, mapping the high-energy neutrino sky in the Southern Hemisphere including the region of the galactic center considering as a nearest aim. Other topics include indirect search for dark matter by detecting neutrinos produced in WIMP annihilation in the Sun or in the center of the Earth. Baikal-GVD will also search for exotic particles like magnetic monopoles, super-symmetric Q-balls or nuclearites.

Expected results upon completion of the project:

Creation of a deep-sea neutrino telescope on a scale of 1 km³ on Lake Baikal. Study of high-energy neutrino fluxes from space, search for hypothetical particles-magnetic monopoles, as well as particles - candidates for the role of dark matter. A large volume of detection in combination with a high angular and energy resolution and moderate background conditions typical of fresh water make it possible to conduct effective studies of the diffusive neutrino flux and fluxes from individual astrophysical objects with constant and variable luminosity.

Expected results of the project in the current year:

Data taking on the installed twelve clusters of the Baikal-GVD neutrino telescope. Search for and study of high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical nature. Preparation and deployment of the following detector clusters. Development and testing of a new data acquisition system, allowing a decrease in the threshold of detected energies.

Collaboration