ABSTRACT
The systematic study of atmospheric neutrinos became possible with the development of large-water Cerenkov detectors. When a charged particle moves with high energy through water, it produces along its path a cascade of photons, an eect originally discovered by Pavlov Cerenkov in 1934.1 e detectors consist of a large tank of water surrounded by photomultipliers that detect the photons, making it possible to trace the path of the particle (Figure 16.1). e goal is to see electrons or muons whose path begins in the middle of the detector, indicating that they were produced as a result of collisions of incident neutrinos with nuclei of hydrogen or oxygen. Of great importance is the possibility of distinguishing muons from electrons. is is possible because the electrons, being much lighter, scatter in the water and so provide a quite dierent signal in the photon detectors.
