# Background light in potential sites for the ANTARES undersea neutrino telescope

Abstract : The ANTARES collaboration has performed a series of {\em in situ} measurements to study the background light for a planned undersea neutrino telescope. Such background can be caused by $^{40}$K decays or by biological activity. We report on measurements at two sites in the Mediterranean Sea at depths of 2400~m and 2700~m, respectively. Three photomultiplier tubes were used to measure single counting rates and coincidence rates for pairs of tubes at various distances. The background rate is seen to consist of three components: a constant rate due to $^{40}$K decays, a continuum rate that varies on a time scale of several hours simultaneously over distances up to at least 40~m, and random bursts a few seconds long that are only correlated in time over distances of the order of a meter. A trigger requiring coincidences between nearby photomultiplier tubes should reduce the trigger rate for a neutrino telescope to a manageable level with only a small loss in efficiency.
Document type :
Journal articles
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http://hal.in2p3.fr/in2p3-00009721
Contributor : Magali Damoiseaux <>
Submitted on : Tuesday, April 11, 2000 - 11:13:27 AM
Last modification on : Thursday, April 23, 2020 - 2:26:17 PM

### Citation

P. Amram, S. Anvar, E. Aslanides, J.J. Aubert, R. Azoulay, et al.. Background light in potential sites for the ANTARES undersea neutrino telescope. Astroparticle Physics, Elsevier, 2000, 13, pp.127-136. ⟨in2p3-00009721⟩

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