Baikal Deep Underwater Neutrino Telescope

Since 1993, neutrino research has been conducted at the Baikal Deep Underwater Neutrino Telescope (BDUNT) which is located 1.1 km below the surface of Lake Baikal.^[1]

The first part of NT-200, the detector NT-36 with 36 optical modules (OMs) at 3 short strings, was put into operation and took data up to March 1995. A 72-OMs array, NT-72, run in 1995–1996. In 1996, it was replaced by the four-string array NT-96. Over its 700 days effective lifetime, 320,000,000 muon events were collected with NT-36, NT-72, and NT-96. The lake Baikal Neutrino Telescope is unique among neutrino telescopes in that its location allows it to look out for a hypothetical particle known as a monopole which is a candidate for dark matter. Due to its design, BDUNT picks up a lot of atmospheric neutrinos created by solar winds interacting with the atmosphere — as opposed to cosmic neutrinos which can give clues to cosmic events and are therefore of greater interest to physicists.

Beginning 6 April 1997, NT-144, a six-string array with 144 OMs, took data in Lake Baikal. NT-200 array was completed in April 1998. The Baikal Neutrino Telescope NT-200 is being deployed in Lake Baikal, 3.6 kilometers (2.2 mi) from shore at a depth of 1.1 kilometers (0.68 mi). It consists of 192 optical modules (OMs).^[2]

References

1. ^ "Icy life working with Russia's underwater 'cosmic eye'". BBC News. 24 September 2010. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11384614. Retrieved 2011-02-18. 
2. ^ "Baikal Lake Neutrino Telescope". Baikalweb. 6 January 2005. http://baikalweb.jinr.ru/. Retrieved 2008-07-30.