Very Large Volume Neutrino Telescopes Baikal – Very Large Volume Neutrino Telescopes

The Baikal Deep Underwater Neutrino Telescope (or Baikal-GVD–Gigaton Volume Detector) is an international project in astroparticle physics and neutrino astronomy. The construction of Baikal-GVD is motivated by its discovery potential in astrophysics, cosmology, and particle physics.

Objectives: Its primary goal is a detailed study of high-energy cosmic neutrino fluxes and the search for their sources. Baikal-GVD can also search for dark matter candidates, neutrinos from superheavy particle decays, magnetic monopoles, and other exotic particles. Baikal-GVD is also thought to be a platform for environmental studies of Lake Baikal’s ecosystem.

Construction stages:

In 2015, after deploying a demonstration cluster of 192 optical modules, the preparatory phase of the project was finished.

In 2016, by deploying the first of eight clusters in its basic configuration, the construction of the first phase of Baikal-GVD (GVD-I) was started.

In 2021, GVD-I was completed—8 clusters with 288 optical modules, 0.4 km³in volume.

In 2023, Baikal-GVD consists of 12 clusters.

Collaboration: The Baikal-GVD Collaboration includes 9 institutions and organizations from 4 countries.

Across the globe: Baikal-GVD is one of the three neutrino detectors worldwide, along with IceCube at the South Pole and KM3NeT in the Mediterranean Sea.

On December 17, 2024,

Grigory Vladimirovich Domogatsky

passed away unexpectedly at the age of 84

Grigory Vladimirovich was a man of a brilliant mind, persistent nature and invincible will. He was a great scientist and a talented science administrator whose optimism, sincere and genuine interest in science were a constant source of inspiration for many scientists in Russia and abroad.

(Read more in the News & Media section)

Location: Baikal-GVD is located in the southern part of Lake Baikal, almost 4 km away from the Shore Station which houses the control and data taking systems.

Advantages of the construction site: The place was chosen due to the depth (1366 m), flat bottom, water transparency, railway infrastructure, and also to the possibility of assembling all telescope equipment on the ice and deploying the detector right away from the ice during late winter and early spring.

The Shore Station, surrounded by a nature reserve, has all the infrastructure needed for operating the telescope, processing primary data, and accommodating the team.

Every year, in late winter and early spring, it houses expedition members who come to assemble, repair or upgrade some equipment, and deploy new clusters.

Near the Shore Station, there is a railway station of the Circum-Baikal railway.

About

Where

Shore Station