arXiv subjects

L. Drury

Publications and source records attributed to L. Drury.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2016

Letter of Intent for KM3NeT 2.0

The main objectives of the KM3NeT Collaboration are i) the discovery and subsequent observation of high-energy neutrino sources in the Universe and ii) the determination of the mass hierarchy of neutrinos. These objectives are strongly motivated by two recent important discoveries, namely: 1) The high-energy astrophysical neutrino signal reported by IceCube and 2) the sizable contribution of electron neutrinos to the third neutrino mass eigenstate as reported by Daya Bay, Reno and others. To meet these objectives, the KM3NeT Collaboration plans to build a new Research Infrastructure consisting of a network of deep-sea neutrino telescopes in the Mediterranean Sea. A phased and distributed implementation is pursued which maximises the access to regional funds, the availability of human resources and the synergetic opportunities for the earth and sea sciences community. Three suitable deep-sea sites are identified, namely off-shore Toulon (France), Capo Passero (Italy) and Pylos (Greece). The infrastructure will consist of three so-called building blocks. A building block comprises 115 strings, each string comprises 18 optical modules and each optical module comprises 31 photo-multiplier tubes. Each building block thus constitutes a 3-dimensional array of photo sensors that can be used to detect the Cherenkov light produced by relativistic particles emerging from neutrino interactions. Two building blocks will be configured to fully explore the IceCube signal with different methodology, improved resolution and complementary field of view, including the Galactic plane. One building block will be configured to precisely measure atmospheric neutrino oscillations.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2015

The prototype detection unit of the KM3NeT detector

A prototype detection unit of the KM3NeT deep-sea neutrino telescope has been installed at 3500m depth 80km offshore the Italian coast. KM3NeT in its final configuration will contain several hundreds of detection units. Each detection unit is a mechanical structure anchored to the sea floor, held vertical by a submerged buoy and supporting optical modules for the detection of Cherenkov light emitted by charged secondary particles emerging from neutrino interactions. This prototype string implements three optical modules with 31 photomultiplier tubes each. These optical modules were developed by the KM3NeT Collaboration to enhance the detection capability of neutrino interactions. The prototype detection unit was operated since its deployment in May 2014 until its decommissioning in July 2015. Reconstruction of the particle trajectories from the data requires a nanosecond accuracy in the time calibration. A procedure for relative time calibration of the photomultiplier tubes contained in each optical module is described. This procedure is based on the measured coincidences produced in the sea by the 40K background light and can easily be expanded to a detector with several thousands of optical modules. The time offsets between the different optical modules are obtained using LED nanobeacons mounted inside them. A set of data corresponding to 600 hours of livetime was analysed. The results show good agreement with Monte Carlo simulations of the expected optical background and the signal from atmospheric muons. An almost background-free sample of muons was selected by filtering the time correlated signals on all the three optical modules. The zenith angle of the selected muons was reconstructed with a precision of about 3°.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2014

Deep sea tests of a prototype of the KM3NeT digital optical module

The first prototype of a photo-detection unit of the future KM3NeT neutrino telescope has been deployed in the deep waters of the Mediterranean Sea. This digital optical module has a novel design with a very large photocathode area segmented by the use of 31 three inch photomultiplier tubes. It has been integrated in the ANTARES detector for in-situ testing and validation. This paper reports on the first months of data taking and rate measurements. The analysis results highlight the capabilities of the new module design in terms of background suppression and signal recognition. The directionality of the optical module enables the recognition of multiple Cherenkov photons from the same $^{40}$K decay and the localization bioluminescent activity in the neighbourhood. The single unit can cleanly identify atmospheric muons and provide sensitivity to the muon arrival directions.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2007

H.E.S.S. observations of the supernova remnant RX J0852.0-4622

The shell-type supernova remnant RX J0852.0-4622 was detected in 2004 and re-observed between December 2004 and May 2005 with the High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.), an array of four Imaging Cherenkov Telescopes located in Namibia and dedicated to the observations of gamma-rays above 100 GeV. The angular resolution of <0.1 degree and the large field of view of H.E.S.S. (5 degrees diameter) are well adapted to studying the morphology of the object in very high energy gamma-rays, which exhibits a remarkably thin shell very similar to the features observed in the radio range and in X-rays. The spectral analysis of the source from 300 GeV to 20 TeV will be presented. Finally, the possible origins of the very high energy gamma-ray emission (Inverse Compton scattering by electrons or the decay of neutral pions produced by proton interactions) will be discussed, on the basis of morphological and spectral features obtained at different wavelengths.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2000

Bimodal production of Be and B in the early Galaxy

Recently models based on the acceleration of metal-rich material inside superbubbles have been proposed to account for the observed abundances of Be and B in metal-poor halo stars. We analyse some of the implications of these models for the distribution of the Be/O and B/O abundance ratios. In particular, we discuss the possible scatter in the data and argue that LiBeB production in the very early Galaxy was probably bimodal, with isolated supernovae giving rise to a low-efficiency mechanism, and collective supernovae exploding in an OB association inducing a high-efficiency mechanism. This should produce two populations of halo stars, one with high L/M ratios (light elements/metals), and the other with L/M ratios about ten times lower. The relative weight of these two populations depends on the fraction of supernovae exploding inside superbubbles. In this context, we discuss the recent observation of the B-depleted, Li-normal star HD 160617 (Primas, et al., 1998), as well as the reported spread in the Be data at [Fe/H] ~ -2.2 (Boesgaard, et al., 1999). Finally, we predict that Be will be found to be even more deficient than B in HD 160617.

astro-ph↗

arXiv1999

Superbubbles as the source of 6Li, Be and B in the early Galaxy

We investigate the spallative production of the light elements, Li, Be and B (LiBeB), associated with the evolution of a superbubble (SB) blown by repeated SNe in an OB association. It is shown that if about ten percent of the SN energy can power the acceleration of particles from the material inside the SB, the observed abundances of LiBeB in halo stars, as a function of O, can be explained in a fully consistent way over several decades of metallicity. In this model, the energetic particles (EPs) reflect the SB material, which is a mixing of the ejecta of previous SNe and of the swept-up ISM gas evaporated off the shell. We investigated two different energy spectra for the EPs: the standard cosmic ray source spectrum, or `SNR spectrum', and a specific `SB spectrum', as results from the SB acceleration mechanism of Bykov & Fleishman (1992). While the latter spectrum is more efficient in producing LiBeB, the SNR spectrum can be reconciled with the observational data if an imperfect mixing of the SN ejecta with the rest of the SB material and/or a selective acceleration is invoked (enhancing the C and O abundance amongst the EPs by a factor of ~ 6). One of the main consequences of our model is that the observed linear growth of Be and B abundances as a function of Fe/H expresses a dilution line rather than a continuous, monotonic increase of the metallicity. We propose an observational test of this feature. We also show that the recent 6Li observations in halo stars fit equally well in the framework of the SB model. Finally, we conjecture the existence of two sets of low-metallicity stars, differing in their Be/Fe or B/O abundance ratios, resulting from a `bimodal' LiBeB production in the Galaxy, namely from correlated (in SBs) or isolated SN explosions.

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