@article{3035957,
    title = "The prototype detection unit of the KM3NeT detector: KM3NeT Collaboration",
    author = "Adrián-Martínez, S. and Ageron, M. and Aharonian, F. and Aiello, S. and Albert, A. and Ameli, F. and Anassontzis, E.G. and Androulakis, G.C. and Anghinolfi, M. and Anton, G. and Anvar, S. and Ardid, M. and Avgitas, T. and Balasi, K. and Band, H. and Barbarino, G. and Barbarito, E. and Barbato, F. and Baret, B. and Baron, S. and Barrios, J. and Belias, A. and Berbee, E. and van den Berg, A.M. and Berkien, A. and Bertin, V. and Beurthey, S. and van Beveren, V. and Beverini, N. and Biagi, S. and Biagioni, A. and Bianucci, S. and Billault, M. and Birbas, A. and Boer Rookhuizen, H. and Bormuth, R. and Bouché, V. and Bouhadef, B. and Bourlis, G. and Boutonnet, C. and Bouwhuis, M. and Bozza, C. and Bruijn, R. and Brunner, J. and Cacopardo, G. and Caillat, L. and Calamai, M. and Calvo, D. and Capone, A. and Caramete, L. and Caruso, F. and Cecchini, S. and Ceres, A. and Cereseto, R. and Champion, C. and Château, F. and Chiarusi, T. and Christopoulou, B. and Circella, M. and Classen, L. and Cocimano, R. and Coleiro, A. and Colonges, S. and Coniglione, R. and Cosquer, A. and Costa, M. and Coyle, P. and Creusot, A. and Cuttone, G. and D’Amato, C. and D’Amico, A. and De Bonis, G. and De Rosa, G. and Deniskina, N. and Destelle, J.-J. and Distefano, C. and Di Capua, F. and Donzaud, C. and Dornic, D. and Dorosti-Hasankiadeh, Q. and Drakopoulou, E. and Drouhin, D. and Drury, L. and Durand, D. and Eberl, T. and Elsaesser, D. and Enzenhöfer, A. and Fermani, P. and Fusco, L.A. and Gajanana, D. and Gal, T. and Galatà, S. and Garufi, F. and Gebyehu, M. and Giordano, V. and Gizani, N. and Gracia Ruiz, R. and Graf, K. and Grasso, R. and Grella, G. and Grmek, A. and Habel, R. and van Haren, H. and Heid, T. and Heijboer, A. and Heine, E. and Henry, S. and Hernández-Rey, J.J. and Herold, B. and Hevinga, M.A. and van der Hoek, M. and Hofestädt, J. and Hogenbirk, J. and Hugon, C. and Hößl, J. and Imbesi, M. and James, C.W. and Jansweijer, P. and Jochum, J. and de Jong, M. and Jongen, M. and Kadler, M. and Kalekin, O. and Kappes, A. and Kappos, E. and Katz, U. and Kavatsyuk, O. and Keller, P. and Kieft, G. and Koffeman, E. and Kok, H. and Kooijman, P. and Koopstra, J. and Korporaal, A. and Kouchner, A. and Kreykenbohm, I. and Kulikovskiy, V. and Lahmann, R. and Lamare, P. and Larosa, G. and Lattuada, D. and Le Provost, H. and Leismüller, K.P. and Leisos, A. and Lenis, D. and Leonora, E. and Lindsey Clark, M. and Llorens Alvarez, C.D. and Löhner, H. and Lonardo, A. and Loucatos, S. and Louis, F. and Maccioni, E. and Mannheim, K. and Manolopoulos, K. and Margiotta, A. and Mariş, O. and Markou, C. and Martínez-Mora, J.A. and Martini, A. and Masullo, R. and Melis, K.W. and Michael, T. and Migliozzi, P. and Migneco, E. and Miraglia, A. and Mollo, C.M. and Mongelli, M. and Morganti, M. and Mos, S. and Moudden, Y. and Musico, P. and Musumeci, M. and Nicolaou, C. and Nicolau, C.A. and Orlando, A. and Orzelli, A. and Papaikonomou, A. and Papaleo, R. and Păvălaş, G.E. and Peek, H. and Pellegrino, C. and Pellegriti, M.G. and Perrina, C. and Piattelli, P. and Pikounis, K. and Popa, V. and Pradier, T. and Priede, M. and Pühlhofer, G. and Pulvirenti, S. and Racca, C. and Raffaelli, F. and Randazzo, N. and Rapidis, P.A. and Razis, P. and Real, D. and Resvanis, L. and Reubelt, J. and Riccobene, G. and Rovelli, A. and Saldaña, M. and Samtleben, D.F.E. and Sanguineti, M. and Santangelo, A. and Sapienza, P. and Schmelling, J. and Schnabel, J. and Sciacca, V. and Sedita, M. and Seitz, T. and Sgura, I. and Simeone, F. and Sipala, V. and Spitaleri, A. and Spurio, M. and Stavropoulos, G. and Steijger, J. and Stolarczyk, T. and Stransky, D. and Taiuti, M. and Terreni, G. and Tézier, D. and Théraube, S. and Thompson, L.F. and Timmer, P. and Trasatti, L. and Trovato, A. and Tselengidou, M. and Tsirigotis, A. and Tzamarias, S. and Tzamariudaki, E. and Vallage, B. and Van Elewyck, V. and Vermeulen, J. and Vernin, P. and Vicini, P. and Viola, S. and Vivolo, D. and Werneke, P. and Wiggers, L. and Wilms, J. and de Wolf, E. and van Wooning, R.H.L. and Zonca, E. and Zornoza, J.D. and Zúñiga, J. and Zwart, A.",
    journal = "The European Physical Journal C - Particles and Fields",
    year = "2016",
    volume = "76",
    number = "2",
    pages = "1-12",
    publisher = "Springer New York LLC",
    issn = "1434-6044, 1434-6052",
    doi = "10.1140/epjc/s10052-015-3868-9",
    abstract = "A prototype detection unit of the KM3NeT deep-sea neutrino telescope has been installed at 3500m depth 80 km offshore the Italian coast. KM3NeT in its final configuration will contain several hundreds of detection units. Each detection unit is a mechanical structure anchored to the sea floor, held vertical by a submerged buoy and supporting optical modules for the detection of Cherenkov light emitted by charged secondary particles emerging from neutrino interactions. This prototype string implements three optical modules with 31 photomultiplier tubes each. These optical modules were developed by the KM3NeT Collaboration to enhance the detection capability of neutrino interactions. The prototype detection unit was operated since its deployment in May 2014 until its decommissioning in July 2015. Reconstruction of the particle trajectories from the data requires a nanosecond accuracy in the time calibration. A procedure for relative time calibration of the photomultiplier tubes contained in each optical module is described. This procedure is based on the measured coincidences produced in the sea by the $$^{40}$$40K background light and can easily be expanded to a detector with several thousands of optical modules. The time offsets between the different optical modules are obtained using LED nanobeacons mounted inside them. A set of data corresponding to 600 h of livetime was analysed. The results show good agreement with Monte Carlo simulations of the expected optical background and the signal from atmospheric muons. An almost background-free sample of muons was selected by filtering the time correlated signals on all the three optical modules. The zenith angle of the selected muons was reconstructed with a precision of about 3$$^\circ $$∘. © 2016, The Author(s)."
}