ICARUS
Collaboration
Laboratory: Gran Sasso National Laboratory
National Responsible: C. Rubbia (Pv)
1. Goal of the experiment
The experiment aims at the demonstration and at a comprehensive
study of neutrino oscillations through the detection and detailed
analysis of neutrino events coming both from natural (solar and
atmospheric neutrinos) and artificial (CERN to Gran Sasso Long
Baseline Neutrino Beam) sources. The other major issue of the
ICARUS scientific program is the search for nucleon decay
especially in SUSY favored (N --> n K)
or exotic channels.
2.
Activities during 2001
Year 2001 was mostly dedicated to the test of the ICARUS 600 ton
module and to the completion of the assembly before the module
transportation at the LNGS. The planned program for 2001 has a
delay of about 3 months mostly due to extra time needed for the
T600 test setup.
Concerning the specific milestones for year 2001 the level of
completion is the following:
1) Full functionality test of the ICARUS T600 first
half-module.
The test was completed in July 2001 with fully satisfactory
results.
2) Second half-module assembly.
The assembly is quite advanced; the level of completion at the
end of 2001 is about 75 %.
3) Civil works and auxiliary plants installation in the Gran
Sasso underground laboratory.
Logistics and planning for occupation of the LNGS underground
halls is currently under evaluation of a dedicated INFN Committee
on the basis of the proposals of the new experiments (ICARUS,
MONOLITH and OPERA). The Committee will give its recommendations
at the beginning of 2002.
4) T600 module installation in the Gran Sasso underground
laboratory.
The T600 module is still in the assembly hall in Pavia (see
previous points 2 and 3).
5) Engineering design of the ICANOE supermodule.
The ICANOE Collaboration dissolved at the beginning of 2001. The
ICARUS Collaboration has recently submitted a new proposal for
the realization of a multi-kton detector based on the replication
(cloning) of the T600 module dedicated to atmospheric and long
baseline neutrino oscillation studies.
Milestones 2002
Civil works and auxiliary plants installation in the Gran Sasso underground laboratory | 30-06-2002 |
Neutron shield for the T600 installation. | 31-10-2002 |
T600 transportation and installation in the Gran Sasso underground laboratory | 30-09-2002 |
T600 start up in the Gran Sasso underground laboratory | 31-12-2002 |
3. INFN contribution to the experiment in
terms of manpower and financial support
Manpower:
Support to the experiment is largely dominated by the INFN
contribution both for funding and for manpower. Contribution of
INFN to the T600 corresponds to about 90 % of the total cost.
Correspondingly, the INFN groups have the construction
responsibility for the most relevant items (cryogenics and
purification systems, internal detector mechanics, readout
electronics, trigger systems, logistics). The number of
researchers involved is 36 (24.8 FTE).
Contributions from non INFN groups concern the slow control
system (ETH group) and the HV supply and control (UCLA group),
the contribution of the IHEP-Beijing group is expressed in terms
of manpower for the wiring of the chambers while the several
groups from Polish institutions gave contributions on the T600
external trigger and are currently involved in the analysis of
the events recorded during the T600 test run.
Budget for the Year 2002: 2257 kEuro
4. Publications in refereed journals (in
2001): 2
5. Conference talks (in 2001):
7
6. Number of undergraduate and doctoral
thesis on the experiment: 2
7. Leadership roles in the experiment
C. Rubbia (Universita' degli Studi di Pavia ed INFN Sezione
di Pavia) - Spokesman
E. Calligarich (INFN Sezione di Pavia ) - Project leader
8. Innovative instruments
As part of the cryogenics of the T600 module we have built a new
type of modular evacuated thermal insulation suited for large
liquid argon, nitrogen and oxygen cryostats.
9. Competing experiments
The project is in competition with the Japanese (K2K), American
(MINOS) and European (OPERA) experiments for the search of
neutrino oscillations on long baselines. Points in favour of the
experiment are the direct demonstration of the oscillation
phenomenon by means of the identification of nt
and ne, the combined
analysis of beam and atmospheric neutrinos, the possibility to
extend the sensitivity by adding more detector units.