Bioluminescence in the KM3NeT neutrino telescope

The KM3NeT-neutrino telescope is a large detector under construction in the Mediterranean Sea. Its main objectives are the observation of cosmic high-energy neutrinos and the determination of the neutrino mass hierarchy. However, the deep sea is an extraordinary location and environment and entails uncontrolled phenomena like bioluminescence. Bioluminescence is the emission of light by organisms. This light is detected by the KM3NeT-detector when bioluminescent organisms collide with the structure of KM3NeT. It is interesting to study the signal of the bioluminescence, because it tells a lot about life in deep-sea and it can be a nuisance in the quest to observe and research neutrinos. Characteristics of bioluminescence like the amount of detected bioluminescence over a long period of time, the location of the increased bioluminescence in the detector, the number of bioluminescent bursts that happen at the same time, the duration of these bursts and the periodicity of the detected...Show moreThe KM3NeT-neutrino telescope is a large detector under construction in the Mediterranean Sea. Its main objectives are the observation of cosmic high-energy neutrinos and the determination of the neutrino mass hierarchy. However, the deep sea is an extraordinary location and environment and entails uncontrolled phenomena like bioluminescence. Bioluminescence is the emission of light by organisms. This light is detected by the KM3NeT-detector when bioluminescent organisms collide with the structure of KM3NeT. It is interesting to study the signal of the bioluminescence, because it tells a lot about life in deep-sea and it can be a nuisance in the quest to observe and research neutrinos. Characteristics of bioluminescence like the amount of detected bioluminescence over a long period of time, the location of the increased bioluminescence in the detector, the number of bioluminescent bursts that happen at the same time, the duration of these bursts and the periodicity of the detected bioluminescence are investigated. Finally in the analysis of the data it has been found that some parts of the detector are showing unexpected behaviour, examples of this behaviour are shown.Show less

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Bioluminescence in the KM3NeT neutrino telescope