arXiv · 2507.10256
A Cost Effective Optimization of the hybrid-DOM Design for TRIDENT
Abstract
TRIDENT is a planned multi-cubic-kilometer deep-sea neutrino telescope to be built in the South China Sea, designed to rapidly discover high-energy astrophysical neutrino sources with sensitivity to all neutrino flavors. Achieving this at scale requires a detector design that balances performance with power, cost, and mechanical simplicity. This study presents a cost-effective optimization of TRIDENT's hybrid Digital Optical Module (hDOM) design, comparing configurations using high-quantum-efficiency (QE) 3-inch PMTs and larger 4-inch PMTs, the latter evaluated with both baseline and enhanced QE assumptions. Using full-chain detector simulations incorporating site-specific seawater optical properties and realistic backgrounds, we assess performance in all-flavor neutrino detection efficiency, directional reconstruction, and tau neutrino flavor identification from 1 TeV to 10 PeV. We find that if 4-inch PMTs can achieve QE comparable to 3-inch PMTs, their performance matches or improves upon that of the 3-inch design, while significantly reducing channel count, power consumption, and cost. These findings support the 4-inch PMT hDOM as a promising and scalable choice for TRIDENT's future instrumentation.
Explore related subjects
Keep this discovery
Hengbin Shao, Fuyudi Zhang, Qichao Chang, Shuhua Hao, Ruike Cao, Jingtao Huang, Weilun Huang, Hai Liu, Hualin Mei, Iwan Morton-Blake, Wei Tian, Yingwei Wang, Xin Xiang, Donglian Xu. 2025-07-14. A Cost Effective Optimization of the hybrid-DOM Design for TRIDENT. https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.10256
Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.