KM3NeT

The Cubic Kilometre Neutrino Telescope, or KM3NeT, is a European research infrastructure located at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea. It hosts water Cherenkov neutrino telescopes designed to detect and study neutrinos from distant astrophysical sources as well as from our own atmosphere, contributing significantly to both astrophysics and particle physics knowledge.

Arrays of thousands of optical sensor modules detect the faint Cherenkov light in the deep sea from charged particles originating from interactions of neutrinos in water or rock in the vicinity of the detector. The position and direction of the optical modules and the time of arrival of the light on the photomultipliers inside are recorded with high precision. Properties of the particles, like their trajectory and energy, are reconstructed from these measurements.

The KM3NeT project foresees the construction of several of these detectors in the depths of the Mediterranean Sea along the southern coasts of Europe: KM3NeT-Fr (offshore Toulon, France) houses the ORCA (Oscillation Research with Cosmics in the Abyss) detector, and KM3NeT-It (offshore Portopalo di Capo Passero, Sicily, Italy) houses the ARCA (Astroparticle Research with Cosmics in the Abyss) detector. Both detectors are collecting data. KM3NeT-Gr (offshore Pylos, Peloponnese, Greece) will expand the KM3NeT Research Infrastructure in a next phase.

The KM3NeT project continues the work done by the ANTARES neutrino telescope, which operated off the coast of France between 2008 and 2022.

The oversight, governance and management of the implementation and operation of KM3NeT is conducted by an international collaboration with more than 68 institutions from 21 countries all over the world being involved. The KM3NeT community consists of about 360 scientists, along with engineers and technicians.