Speaker
Description
Neutrinos can escape extremely dense astrophysical environments and provide direct probes of cosmic accelerators, the origin of cosmic rays, and fundamental physics. TRIDENT is an upcoming next-generation deep-sea neutrino telescope in the South China Sea. Its low-latitude site provides complementary sky coverage, while the deep-sea environment offers favourable optical conditions for Cherenkov detection and event reconstruction. Achieving TRIDENT’s targeted pointing performance and physics reach requires high-precision, real-time calibration that continuously tracks detector response, in-water optical properties, and time-dependent background activity.
We present a new in-situ calibration concept for TRIDENT: a multi-purpose, real-time calibration string integrating (i) CMOS imaging to monitor water optical properties to validate light-propagation models; (ii) plastic-scintillator modules for precise measurements of atmospheric muons to crosscheck timing, geometry, and directional reconstruction performance; (iii) low-light cameras and PMT-based spectrometers to quantify bioluminescence intensity, variability, and spectra; and (iv) hydrographic sensors to support acoustic positioning and correlate environmental conditions with background fluctuations. We outline the calibration strategy and expected performance for TRIDENT.