Speaker
Description
The Trinity Neutrino Observatory is designed to detect tau neutrinos in the 1 PeV–10 EeV range by observing Cherenkov emission from extensive air showers following the decay of a tau emerging from the Earth. By bridging the gap between water/ice optical Cherenkov detectors and radio-based experiments, Trinity probes the poorly explored transition region between astrophysical and cosmogenic neutrinos.
The first phase of the project, the Trinity Demonstrator at Frisco Peak in Utah, was commissioned in 2024 and has since performed regular observations. Analysis results from more than one year of observations are presented here. These results characterize the instrument's performance and motivate the development of Trinity One, the first full-scale telescope.
With a collection area 16 times larger than the demonstrator's, Trinity One will already achieve competitive sensitivity. Its azimuthal rotation capability will enable point-source searches over half of the sky, as well as follow-ups of transient multi-messenger events. Updated performance projections are presented, and detection prospects are evaluated across a range of source classes.
A central goal of the Trinity Demonstrator program is to validate both the instrument response and the background model required for future neutrino searches. While Trinity’s near-horizon observing strategy strongly reduces conventional cosmic-ray backgrounds, data from the demonstrator reveal a population of triggers produced by cosmic-ray-induced muons. To characterize this background and separate it from potential tau-neutrino-induced air-shower events, we simulate inclined cosmic-ray showers with CORSIKA 8 and estimate the muon flux incident on the detector. The simulated muon-induced trigger rate agrees with the observed data, providing important validation of the analysis framework and a foundation for background rejection in Trinity One.