A. N. Kurenya

EMMA: A new underground cosmic-ray experiment

A cosmic-ray experiment of new type is under construction in the Pyhasalmi mine in the underground laboratory of the University of Oulu, Finland. It aims to study the composition of cosmic rays at and above the knee region (energy above 1 PeV). The experiment, called EMMA, covers about 150 m2 of detector area, and the setup is capable of measuring the multiplicity and the lateral distribution of underground muons, and the arrival direction of the air shower. The detector is placed at the depth of about 85 metres (corresponding about 240 mwe) which gives a threshold energy of muons of about 45 GeV. The rock overburden filters out all other particles of the air shower except the high-energy muons. These high-energy muons originate at high altitudes close to the first interaction of the primary cosmic ray and they carry more information about the primary than low-energy muons. The full-size detector is supposed to run by the end of 2007.

Scintillation detector with SiPM matrix as a photosensor

The results of a characterization study of the scintillation detector with SiPM matrices as multichannel photosensors are presented. The SiPM matrix attached to a plastic scintillator gives a snapshot of the glowing track of a charged particle traversing the scintillator.

Search for Neutrino Bursts at the Baksan Underground Scintillation Telescope

The Baksan Underground Scintillation Telescope has been operating under the program of searching for neutrino bursts since the middle of 1980. The target is two parts of the facility with the total mass of 240 t. The actual observation time over the period from June 30, 1980, to December 31, 2016, is 31.27 years. No candidate for the stellar core collapse has been detected during the observation period. The upper bound for the mean rate of the supernova core collapse in our Galaxy is 0.074 y

The Carpet-3 Multipurpose Air Shower Array of the Baksan Neutrino Observatory of the Institute for Nuclear Research, Russian Academy of Sciences

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The search for neutrino bursts from supernovae at the Baksan Underground Scintillation Telescope; 36 years of exposure

(90% CL).

Search for diffuse gamma radiation with energy > 100 TeV at the Carpet-3 experiment

Matrices of silicon photomultipliers (SiPM) are promising multichannel photosensors for scintillation detectors. They can be used to construct tracks of relativistic particles inside detectors. The first detectors based on the direct contact of the SiPM matrices with the surface of the scintillation detector and with the application of Fresnel lenses are developed; promising variants of large detectors for neutrino astrophysics and geophysics are proposed.

Multichannel Measurement System for Data Acquisition From Silicon Photomultiplier Arrays

An experiment for measuring the flux of cosmic gamma rays with energy above 100 TeV is currently being prepared at the Baksan Neutrino Observatory of the Institute for Nuclear Research, Russian Academy of Sciences. For this purpose, based on the Carpet-2 shower array which has been operating for many years, the Carpet-3 multipurpose shower array is being constructed. In particular, the preparation of the experiment supposes an increase in the area of the muon detector (MD) and ground part of the array. For ground modules of the Carpet-3 array, a scintillation detector with a liquid scintillator in a plastic package has been elaborated. In this work, descriptions of the Carpet-3 array and working characteristics of the new scintillation detector are presented.

Hardware and Software for the Data Aсquisition Systems of the Andyrchi and Carpet-3 Air Shower Facilities

A prototype scintillation detector with photosensors based on silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) arrays is described. Such a method of data-taking will make it possible to obtain an image (snapshot) of the event and, thereby, to separate different types of events (particle interactions) in the detector. For this purpose, the characteristics of SiPMs have been studied and a calibration measurement technique developed.