[en] Baikal-GVD is a cubic kilometer-scale neutrino telescope currently under construction in Lake Baikal. The detector’s components are mobile and may drift from their initial coordinates or change their spatial orientation. This introduces a reconstruction error, particularly a timing error for PMT hits. This problem is mitigated by a combination of a hydroacoustic positioning system and per-component acceleration and orientation sensors. Under regular conditions, the average positioning accuracy for a GVD component is estimated to be less than 13 cm.

[en] In April 2015 the first cluster of Baikal-GVD was deployed in Lake Baikal and put into operation. It comprises a total of eight strings. Each string consists of 24 optical modules. An optical module is detection element Baikal-GVD, comprising a photomultiplier tube with a high quantum sensitivity Hamamatsu R7081-100. We describe the design of the optical module, the front-end electronics and the laboratory characterization and calibration.

[en] The Baikal Gigaton Volume Detector (Baikal-GVD) is a km${}^3$-scale neutrino detector currently under construction in Lake Baikal, Russia. The detector consists of several thousand optical sensors arranged on vertical strings, with 36 sensors per string. The strings are grouped into clusters of 8 strings each. Each cluster can operate as a stand-alone neutrino detector. The detector layout is optimized for the measurement of astrophysical neutrinos with energies of $\sim <!--\; ???\; -->$ 100 TeV and above. Events resulting from charged current interactions of muon (anti-)neutrinos will have a track-like topology in Baikal-GVD. A fast ${\mathrm{\chi <!--\; ??\; -->}}^2$-based reconstruction algorithm has been developed to reconstruct such track-like events. The algorithm has been applied to data collected in 2019 from the first five operational clusters of Baikal-GVD, resulting in observations of both downgoing atmospheric muons and upgoing atmospheric neutrinos. This serves as an important milestone towards experimental validation of the Baikal-GVD design. The analysis is limited to single-cluster data, favoring nearly-vertical tracks.

[en] Next generation cubic kilometer scale neutrino telescope Baikal-GVD is currently under construction in Lake Baikal. The detector is specially designed for search for high energies neutrinos whose sources are not yet reliably identified. Since April 2018 the telescope has been successfully operated in complex of three functionally independent clusters i.e. sub-arrays of optical modules (OMs) where now are hosted 864 OMs on 24 vertical strings. Each cluster is connected to shore by individual electro-optical cables. The effective volume of the detector for neutrino initiated cascades of relativistic particles with energy above 100 TeV has been increased up to about 0.15 km³. Preliminary results obtained with data recorded in 2016 and 2017 are discussed.

[en] Lake Baikal in Siberia is one of the most interesting lakes in the world. It is the world’s largest reservoir of fresh surface water and home to several hundred endemic species. At the same time it harboured the first underwater neutrino telescope NT200, now followed by its successor Baikal-GVD, a cubic-kilometre scale neutrino telescope. Within the Baikal Neutrino project a number of methods and instruments have been designed to study various processes in the Baikal ecosystem. Hundreds of optical, acoustic and other sensors allow for long-term 3D monitoring of water parameters like temperature, inherent optical properties or the intensity of water luminescence, as well as processes like sedimentation or deep water renewal. Here we present selected results of the interdisciplinary environmental studies.

[en] Baikal-GVD is a next generation, kilometer-scale neutrino telescope currently under construction in Lake Baikal. GVD is formed by multi-megaton subarrays (clusters) and is designed for the detection of astrophysical neutrino fluxes at energies from a few TeV up to 100 PeV. The design of Baikal-GVD allows one to search for astrophysical neutrinos with flux values measured by IceCube already at early phases of the array construction. We present here preliminary results of the search for high-energy neutrinos via the cascade mode obtained in 2015 and 2016.

[en] Currently in Lake Baikal a new-generation neutrino telescope is being deployed: Baikal-GVD, a deep underwater Cherenkov detector on the cubic-kilometer scale. This paper presents the status of the detector implementation and the first physical results obtained with the existing configuration.

[en] Baikal-GVD is a cubic-kilometer scale neutrino telescope, which is currently under construction in Lake Baikal. Baikal-GVD is an array of optical modules arranged in clusters. The first cluster of the array has been deployed and commissioned in April 2015. To date, Baikal-GVD consists of 3 clusters with 864 optical modules. One of the vital conditions for optimal energy, position and direction reconstruction of the detected particles is the time calibration of the detector. In this article, we describe calibration equipment and methods used in Baikal-GVD and demonstrate the accuracy of the calibration procedures.

[en] We present data on the luminescence of the Baikal water medium collected with the Baikal-GVD neutrino telescope. This three-dimensional array of light sensors allows the observation of time and spatial variations of the ambient light field. In 2016, we observed a maximum of luminescence activity between July and October.

[en] The Baikal-GVD neutrino telescope currently consists of 8 clusters of 288 optical modules (photodetectors). One cluster comprises 8 strings, each of which is subdivided into 3 sections of 12 optical modules. This paper presents the methods of time synchronization between the different GVD components (optical modules, sections, clusters) and estimations of time synchronization accuracy. (paper)