A. Biron

The AMANDA neutrino telescope: principle of operation and first results

AMANDA is a high-energy neutrino telescope presently under construction at the geographical South Pole. In the Antarctic summer 1995/96, an array of 80 optical modules (OMs) arranged on 4 strings (AMANDA-B4) was deployed at depths between 1.5 and 2 km. In this paper we describe the design and performance of the AMANDA-B4 prototype, based on data collected between February and November 1996. Monte Carlo simulations of the detector response to down-going atmospheric muon tracks show that the global behavior of the detector is understood. We describe the data analysis method and present first results on atmospheric muon reconstruction and separation of neutrino candidates. The AMANDA array was upgraded with 216 OMs on 6 new strings in 1996/97 (AMANDA-B10), and 122 additional OMs on 3 strings in 1997/98.

The AMANDA neutrino telescope

We present new results from the Antarctic Muon And Neutrino Detector Array (AMANDA), located at the South Pole in Antarctica. AMANDA-II, commissioned in 2000, is a multipurpose high energy neutrino telescope with a broad physics and astrophysics scope. We summarize the results from searches for a variety of sources of ultra-high energy neutrinos: TeV-PeV diffuse sources by measuring either muon tracks or cascades, neutrinos in excess of PeV by searching for muons traveling in the down-going direction, point sources, neutrinos originating from GRBs, and dark matter in the center of the Earth or Sun.

Status of the AMANDA experiment

Abstract The AMANDA high energy neutrino telescope has successfully been increased in size from four detector strings to ten detector springs during the 1996/1997 season. The first upward going muon-neutrino candidates have been reconstructed from the 1996 years four-string data. Three new detector strings will be deployed during 1997/1998 to 2350 metres depth.

Status of the Neutrino Telescope AMANDA: Monopoles and WIMPS

The neutrino telescope AMANDA has been set up at the geographical South Pole as first step to a neutrino telescope of the scale of one cubic kilometer, which is the canonical size for a detector sensitive to neutrinos from Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), Gamma Ray Bursts (GRB) and Topological Defects (TD). The location and depth in which the detector is installed is given by the requirement to detect neutrinos by the Cherenkov light produced by their reaction products and to keep the background due to atmospheric muons as small as possible. However, a detector optimized for this purpose is also capable to detect the bright Cherenkov light from relativistic Monopoles and neutrino signals from regions with high gravitational potential, where WIMPS are accumulated and possibly annihilate. Both hypothetical particles might contribute to the amount of dark matter. Therefore here a report about the status of the experiment (autumn 2000) and about the status of the search for these particles with the AMANDA B10 sub-detector is given.

WIMP searches with AMANDA-B10

We report on the search for nearly vertical up-going muon neutrinos from WIMP annihilations in the center of the Earth with the AMANDA-B10 detector. The whole data sample collected in 1997, 10^9 events, has been analyzed and a final sample of 15 up-going events is found in a restricted zenith angular region where a signal from WIMP annihilations is expected. A preliminary upper limit at 90% confidence level on the annihilation rate of WIMPs in the center of the Earth is presented.

The AMANDA neutrino detector

The first stage of the AMANDA High Energy Neutrino Detectorat the South Pole, the 302 PMT array AMANDA-B with an expected effectivearea for TeV neutrinos of similar to 10(4) m(2), has been taking datasince 1997. Progress with calibration, investigation of ice properties,as well as muon and neutrino data analysis are described. The next stage20-string detector AMANDA-II with similar to 800 PMTs will be completedin spring 2000.