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Description
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This enhancement project envisages the expansion of already existing infrastructure on the site of Capo Passero with the creation of a submarine telescope for neutrinos, constituted by 60 viewing structures and with an effective volume of around 1 cubic kilometre. The base unit of the apparatus is the Optic Module for the revelation of Cherenkov radiation, created with innovative technology, which presents 31 photomultipliers from 3” inside a sphere of pressure-resistant glass. Also inside the sphere are the electronics necessary for fuelling the photomultipliers, for the conversion of signals into digital and for the transmission of data in fibre optic, as well as a series of tools (compass, clinometer, optic system for temporal calibration) necessary for acquisition of environmental data. The proposed complex infrastructure will consist of 60 vertical structures of around 900 m in height, the “detection units”, which will be anchored at the bottom spaced around 150 m apart and held vertical by a suitable buoy placed at the top. Each of these structures supports 40 Optic Modules plus the tools necessary for the calibration and measurement of environmental parameters. Each “detection unit” is constituted by a sequence of 20 “planes” held together by a system of tension cables. The plane is a mechanical structure of 6 m in length at the extremes of which are mounted two Optic Modules. The particular configuration of the tension cables permits the structure to assume a semi-rigid configuration in which each plane is perpendicular to those adjacent. The submarine infrastructure will also include a series of nodes which will allow the connection, in "plug-and-play” mode, of multidisciplinary observers for research in the field of Earth and Sea science. These activities are developed in the field of the European EMSO project, which foresees the creation of a monitoring network along the entire European coast and into which the proposed submarine observatory can be integrated.
The project is also inserted with high priority in the main European roadmaps of research: developed by the Astro Particle ERAnet (ASPERA) for astro-particle physics and the “Strategic Plan for European Astronomy” of the Astronomy ERAnet (ASTRONET), and edited by the European Strategic Forum for Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) as one of the 35 important European infrastructures. It is furthermore present in the development plans of the main European institutes and agencies which participate in the consortium (INFN, Italy; CNRS, France, FOM, Netherlands, etc.). The main scientific objective of KM3NeT is the research of galactic sources and neutrinos.
KM3NeT, thanks to its geographical position, observes 87% of the galactic plane where in recent years hundreds of galactic sources have been observed, some of which were not identified in other wavelengths, which emit extremely high energy gamma (E > TeV). Some of these source classes are promising neutrino emitters. For these sources it is possible to make very precise predictions of neutrino flow based on the observations of the gamma band. Of particular interest for astronomy with neutrinos are the remains of supernovas, among which the most intense source currently known is RXJ1713-39.46, the remains of a Supernova which exploded in our galaxy around 1000 years ago. The first studies, still to be optimised, indicate that some of these sources can be revealed with some years of observation with KM3NeT.
Training project
The objective of this training project is to create specific skills in the scientific, technical/scientific and managerial fields aimed at the evaluation and commitment of equipment and infrastructure which operate at great marine depth. Currently it is difficult to find in the university field a course which puts together base research with technological knowledge, still avant-garde, which operates in such a hostile and little known field as great marine depth. The main field of research to which this project refers is that of astro-particle physics with particular regard to the physics of high energy neutrinos of cosmic origin. The infrastructure is also suitable to host tools for research in the field of sea physics and geophysics, allowing continuous monitoring for long periods of the properties of the sea and lithosphere. At the end of the training course presented in this document the participants will be capable of operating and developing submarine equipment and infrastructure at great depth, and will have developed the specific skills for the management of research groups capable of operating both nationally and internationally. The skills acquired will be usable both in the area of base scientific research and in the field of technological research, as well as within the world of industry operating in the marine sector. During the training course illustrated below the participants will be trained both from a theoretical point of view, with courses which deal with the subjects relevant to the project, and from a practical point of view with laboratory exercises. Furthermore, the participants in the training will follow the activities of staff already operating within the research body or within the industries of the sector. The main places the training will be carried out will be the National Laboratories of the South of Catania. The participants in the training course at the end of the course will have acquired skills in the following sectors:
1) SCIENTIFIC SECTOR: Astro-particle physics of interest for the study of high energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin; Techniques for revelation of high energy neutrinos with submarine telescopes; Knowledge of data analysis methods used in submarine telescopes; Elements of oceanography and geophysics.
2) TECHNICAL/SCIENTIFIC SECTOR: Introduction to Linux operating system and object programming. Fundamentals of C++ and Python programming languages; Electric power systems for submarine application; Data transmission and acquisition in fibre optics; Management of submarine intervention systems (ROV-AUV); Environmental sensors; Subaqueous acoustics; Infrastructure management technologies which operate at the bottom of the sea.
3) ADMINISTRATIVE and MANAGERIAL SECTOR: Legislative elements on the use and protection of the marine environment; Market strategies and spin-offs; Tips on management, development and administration strategies for human resources and finance; In-depth topics relevant to the management of research (planning, project management, evaluation, etc.); Elements of management of company and commercial transactions at the national and international level.
At the end of the course the staff thus trained will have the following professional outlets:
•Base research in the nuclear and astro-particle physics sector
•Research in the marine sciences, marine biology and geophysics sector
•Research in the field of alternative marine energy (production of energy from currents, from tides and from wave motion)
•Telecommunications industry
•Management and development of marine equipment
•Petroleum industry
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