Table of contents

The ninth meeting of the TAUP Workshop Series, TAUP 2005, was organized by the University of Zaragoza and Laboratorio Subterráneo de Canfranc, jointly with the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso of the Italian Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN). It was dedicated to the memory of professor Angel Morales, co-founder of the TAUP Series and a central figure in the scientific shaping and organization of the TAUP conferences since their inception in 1989. He and his group of collaborators laid, twenty years ago, the foundations of underground physics in Spain. To have TAUP 2005 hosted by the University of Zaragoza was a tangible way of honouring his memory. The Conference was concluded by a visit to the new installations of the Canfranc Laboratory, where a memorial ceremony was held in honour of Angel Morales, the driving force for the creation of that Laboratory.

In TAUP 2005 all the various aspects of Astroparticle Physics have been covered, from Cosmology and Dark Constituents, to Gravitational Waves, to Neutrino Physics and Astrophysics, to High Energy Astrophysics, to Cosmic Rays and Gamma-Rays Astronomy. New and important scientific results were presented and debated in the plenary review talks and in a very large number of contributions in topical parallel sessions.

As editors of these proceedings, we hope that this volume, which contains most of the talks and contributions presented at TAUP 2005, will provide a detailed state-of-the-art account of the various facets of Astroparticle Physics. We thank all the invited speakers and contributors who made this possible. Full coverage of the transparencies presented at the conference can be found on the website http://www.unizar.es/taup2005.

At TAUP 2005 a memorial lecture was delivered by Art McDonald to commemorate John Bahcall, who passed away prematurely in August 2005. In this talk, his figure, as a pioneer and leader in the fields of Neutrino Physics, Astronomy and Astrophysics and as a man of great personal qualities, was illustrated. The TAUP Steering Committee recalls with deep gratitude that John Bahcall served continuously as a member of the TAUP International Advisory Committee and that he gave an inspired and brilliant conclusive talk at TAUP 2003 in Seattle. Our astroparticle community will miss him greatly.

The TAUP 2005 Organizing Committee thanks Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia, Gobierno de Aragón, Zaragoza University, INFN, IUPAP, PaNAGIC and Ibercaja for sponsoring the Conference, and the Rector and Vice-Rector of the Zaragoza University for their hospitality in the magnificent Paraninfo Palace, where the meeting was held.

We wish to thank Venya Berezinsky, José Bernabéu and José Angel Villar for their invaluable contribution in the scientific shaping of the conference and in the preparation of the present volume.

Very special thanks are due to Ms Mercedes Fatás and Ms Franca Masciulli, our workshop secretaries, for their continuous and excellent work in the organization of the conference, and to Ms Leopolda Benazzato for her invaluable assistance during the conference. We also gratefully thank the technical staff: Cristina Gil, Francisco Javier Mena and Alfonso Ortiz de Solórzano for their invaluable help.

As announced at the end of the conference, TAUP 2007 will be held in Sendai, Japan, hosted by the Tohoku University with the chairs of Professors Atsuto Suzuki and Kunio Inoue.

COMMITTEES

TAUP STEERING COMMITTEE F. T. Avignone, U. South Carolina B. Barish, CALTECH E. Bellotti, U. Milano/INFN J. Bernabéu, U. Valenciav A. Bottino (chair), U. Torino/INFN V. de Alfaro, U. Torino/INFN T. Kajita, ICRR Tokyo C. W. Kim, JHU Baltimore/KIAS Seoul E. Lorenz U. München V. Matveev, INR Moscow J. Morales, U. Zaragoza D. Sinclair, U. Carleton M. Spiro, IN2P3

TAUP 2005 INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE J. J. Aubert, CNRS Marseille J. Bahcall, U. Princeton M. Baldo-Ceolin, U. Padova/INFN L. Bergström, U. Stockholm R. Bernabei, U. Roma Tor Vergata/INFN A. Bettini, U. Padova/INFN S. Bilenky, JINR Dubna/ICTP Trieste D. O. Caldwell, U.C. Santa Barbara J. Cronin, U. Chicago A. Dar, Technion Haifa G. Domogatsky, INR Moscow H. Ejiri, U. Osaka J. Ellis, CERN E. Fernández, IFAE Barcelona E. Fiorini, U. Milano/INFN G. Fogli, U. Bari/INFN M. Fukushima, ICCR Tokyo T. Gaisser, U. Delaware G. Gelmini, UCLA A. Giazotto, INFN, Pisa F. Halzen, U. Wisconsin W. Haxton, U. Washington E. Iarocci, U. Roma/INFN T. Kirsten, MPI Heidelberg L. Maiani, U. Roma/INFN A. McDonald, Queen's U. L. Mosca, Saclay/LSM Frejus E. Peterson, U. Minneapolis/Soudan R. Petronzio, INFN/U. Roma Tor Vergata G. Raffelt, MPI München R. Rebolo, IAC Tenerife L. Resvanis, U. Athens P. Salati, U. Savoie/LAPTH Annecy A. Smirnov, ICTP Trieste N. Spooner, U. Sheffield S. Ting, MIT/CERN M. S. Turner, FNAL/U. Chicago J.W.F. Valle, IFIC Valencia D. Vignaud, CdF Paris F. von Feilitzsch, T.U. München G. Zatsepin, INR Moscow

TAUP 2005 ORGANIZING COMMITTEE V.S. Berezinsky, INFN/LNGS J. Bernabéu, U. Valencia A. Bottino, U. Torino/INFN E. Coccia (co-chair), INFN/LNGS/U. Roma Tor Vergata J. Morales (co-chair), U. Zaragoza J. Puimedón (scientific secretary), U. Zaragoza J. A. Villar, U. Zaragoza

Some of the papers and talks given at the conference have not been published in this volume of Journal of Physics: Conference Series. The attached PDF file lists the full conference program and indicates (with an asterisk) those papers or talks which are not present in this volume.

Cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy is our richest source of cosmological information; the standard cosmological model was largely established thanks to study of the temperature anisotropies. By the end of the decade, the Planck satellite will close this important chapter and move us deeper into the new frontier of polarization measurements. Numerous ground-based and balloon-borne experiments are already forging into this new territory. Besides providing new and independent information on the primordial density perturbations and cosmological parameters, polarization measurements offer the potential to detect primordial gravity waves, constrain dark energy and measure the neutrino mass scale. A vigorous experimental program is underway worldwide and heading towards a new satellite mission dedicated to CMB polarization.

We discuss here a mechanism of baryon asymmetry generation in an extension of the minimal standard model by three right-handed neutrinos with masses smaller than the electroweak scale (the νMSM).

In the minimal supersymmetric extention of the scalar triplet seesaw model for neutrino masses an additional source of CP violation can be provided by a phase in the trilinear soft-breaking terms. By explicitly solving the relevant Boltzman equations including the gauge annihilation effect we show how in this scenario successful thermal leptogenesis can occur only for a mass of the decaying scalar triplet in the TeV scale. This opens up an interesting opportunity for testing the model at future colliders.

The most entropic fluid can be related to a dense gas of black holes that we use to study the beginning of the universe. We encounter difficulties to compatibilize an adiabatic expansion with the growing area for the coalescence of black holes. This problem may be circumvented for a quantum black hole fluid, whose classical counterpart can be described by a percolating process at the critical point. This classical regime might be related to the energy content of the current universe.

The gravitational wave detector Virgo commissioning started in autumn 2003. The main commissioning goal is to reach stable operation at the design sensitivity, significantly extended to the low frequency range starting from 10 Hz. However, the Collaboration's efforts during the last commissioning phase will also be aimed at the data exchange with other detectors operating with comparable sensitivity. The present status of the detector and the short term planning are outlined in this paper

An overview of the searches for continuous gravitational wave signals in LIGO and GEO 600 performed on different recent science runs and results are presented. This includes both searching for gravitational waves from known pulsars as well as blind searches over a wide parameter space.

We discuss the interest of acoustic gw detectors for sources in the kHz range. As an example we summarize the recent upper limits in gw emission, posed by AURIGA on the Dec 2004 X-rays giant flare and see how they would improve with upgraded AURIGA in the near future. In the 2013 timeframe, a fully wideband DUAL acoustic gw detector would uniquely cover the kHz band, giving ''assured'' and, in conjunction with advanced interferometers, ''confident'' detections of the whole dynamics of coalescence of compact binaries.

This paper describes the main properties of gravitational wave detectors of spherical shape, the experimental achievements obtained up to now towards the development of this kind of detectors and the expected sensitivity of SFERA, a 2 meters diameter spherical antenna proposed as the next step in the development of resonant gravitational wave detectors.

Cosmic ray events with rate and energy much higher than expected were detected by the ultracryogenic gravitational antenna Nautilus located at the Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati, when it was operating in superconducting state. Mechanisms related to the superconductivity state of the material could be involved in such a way to enhance the conversion efficiency of the particle energy into vibrational energy of the detector. The RAP experiment has the aim to study the mechanical response of a small metallic resonant bar to short pulses of high energy electron beam, investigating the response of the bar both in normal and in superconducting state. The results obtained for an Al5056 bar down to a temperature of 4 K are reported and the preliminary results for a niobium bar at temperature below and above the superconducting-normal transition are also discussed.

Magnetic field dependent transient solar observations are suggestive for axionphoton oscillations with light axion(-like) particle involvement. Novel dark-moon measurements with the SMART X-ray detectors can be conclusive for radiatively decaying massive exotica like the generic solar Kaluza-Klein (KK) axions. Furthermore, the predicted intrinsic strong solar magnetic fields could be the reason of enhanced low energy axion production. Such an axion component could be the as yet unknown origin of the strong quiet Sun X-ray luminosity at energies below ∼ 1 keV. Solar axion telescopes should lower their threshold, aiming to copy processes that might occur near the solar surface, be it due to spontaneous or magnetically induced radiative decay of axion(-like) particles. This is motivated also by the recent claim of an axion-like particle detection by the laser experiment PVLAS.

The XENON experiment searches for dark matter particles called WIMPs using liquid xenon (LXe) as the active target. The detector is a 3D position sensitive Time Projection Chamber optimized to simultaneously measure the ionization and scintillation produced by a recoil event of energy as low as 16 keV. The distinct ratio of the two signals for nuclear recoils arising from WIMPs and neutrons and for electron recoils from the dominant gamma-ray background determines its event-by-event discrimination. With 1 ton of LXe distributed in ten identical modules, the proposed XENON1T experiment will achieve a sensitivity more than a factor of thousand beyond current limits. A phased program will test a 10 kg detector (XENON10) followed by a 100 kg (XENON100) one as unit module for the XENON1T scale experiment. We review the progress of the XENON R & D phase before presenting the status of XENON10. The experiment will be based at the Gran Sasso Underground Laboratory and is expected to start data taking in early 2006.

WARP (Wimp ARgon Programme) is a double phase Argon detector for Dark Matter search under construction at Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso. We present recent results obtained operating a prototype with a sensitive mass of 2.3 litres deep underground.

An improved SIMPLE experiment comprising four superheated droplet detectors with a total exposure of 0.42 kg.d yields ∼factor 10 improvement in the previously-reported results. Despite the low exposure, the result provides restrictions on the allowed phase space of spin-dependent coupling strengths almost equivalent to those from the significantly larger exposure NAIAD-CDMS/ZEPLIN searches.

The CAST Experiment commenced its first phase of solar axion-searching in 2003, and ran successfully for two years. In the transverse field of a decommissioned Large Hadron Collider (LHC) test magnet (9.26m, 9T), the CERN Axion Solar Telescope intends to transform axions -that would be produced in the sun- into X-rays with energies of a few keV. The first results from the analysis of the data taken in 2003 show no signature of axions, implying an upper limit to the axion-photon coupling g_aγ ⩽ 1.16 × 10⁻¹⁰ GeV⁻¹ at 95% C.L. for m_a < 0.02 eV, already a factor 100 better than previous searches. In Phase I the twin bores of the magnet were kept in vacuum. In Phase II (due to start in November 2005) the bores of the magnet will be filled with a buffer gas, which will allow CAST to explore the region of higher axion masses.

A thin plate of NaI(Tl) with the dimension of 5cm×5cm×0.05cm has been developed for WIMPs search. The thin NaI(Tl) showed the good performance for energy resolution and low energy threshold. The advantages for WIMPs search, especially, inelastic excitation of nuclei by spin-dependent interaction between WIMPs and ¹²⁷I is discussed.

A large mass dark matter search experiment with NaI scintillators at the Canfranc Underground Laboratory is underway. A 10.7 kg prototype with improved light collection efficiency and special low-background improvements has been tested and started taking data underground in summer 2005. Preliminary results and prospects for the experiment are presented.

Heavy-liquid bubble chambers can be made stable-enough to be used in searches for Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs). Advantages of this approach are optimal choice of target liquid-CF₃I, maximally sensitive to both spin-dependent (SD) and spin-independent (SI) WIMP interactions, low cost, good scalability, room temperature operation, extraordinary intrinsic rejection of minimally-ionizing backgrounds, and a number of features permitting rejection of irreducible neutron backgrounds. A 2 kg prototype chamber is currently operating at the depth of 300 meters water equivalent (m.w.e.) NuMi gallery of Fermilab. Even with the small prototype mass, results competitive in the SI channel and surpassing current limits in the SD channel are expected.

The ArDM project aims at developing and operating large noble liquid detectors to search for direct evidence of Weakly Interacting Massive Particle (WIMP) as Dark Matter in the Universe. The initial goal is to design, assemble and operate a ≈1 ton liquid Argon prototype to demonstrate the feasibility of a ton-scale experiment with the required performance to efficiently detect and sufficiently discriminate backgrounds for a successful WIMP detection. Our design addresses the possibility to detect independently ionization and scintillation signals. In this paper, we describe this goal and the conceptual design of the detector.

The particle discrimination capability of various scintillating bolometers has been tested, proving their suitability for dark matter searches. In particular, BGO and undoped sapphire have shown low particle discrimination energy threshold (down to around 20 and 10 keV, respectively). We report on the present status of the ROSEBUD (Rare Objects SEarch with Bolometers UnDerground) Experiment and its prospects.

We examine the potential impact of a WIMP search based on CF3I-loaded SDDs, projected on the basis of the experience and results of the SIMPLE dark matter search. We find such a ''heavy'' SIMPLE experiment to have spin-independent sensitivity comparable to that of leading searches like ZEPLIN-I and CDMS, while preserving the spin-dependent sensitivity of fluorine-based experiments.

EURECA (European Underground Rare Event Calorimeter Array) is a new project, searching for dark matter, with largely the present groups of the CRESST and EDELWEISS experiments and already a few new groups. The aim is to explore scalar cross sections in the 10⁻⁹ - 10⁻¹⁰ pico-barn region with a target mass of up to one tonne. A major advantage of EURECA is our planned use of more that just one target material (multi target experiment for WIMP identification). In preparation for this large-scale experiment, R&D for EURECA is provided through the current phases of CRESST and EDELWEISS.

Neutron background for the high-sensitivity underground particle astrophysics experiments, in particular for dark matter searches, is discussed with an emphasis on the neutrons from rock and from cosmic-ray muons.

The neutron background in the Modane Underground Laboratory is discussed. Neutron-induced nuclear recoils in EDELWEISS-I are simulated with MCNPX in calibration and low background runs conditions.

The DAMA/Nal set-up has investigated the annual modulation signature over seven annual cycles achieving 6.3 σ C.L. model independent evidence for the presence of a Dark Matter particle component in the galactic halo. Some of the Physics and Astrophysics topics which can be addressed by DAMA/LIBRA are also introduced

Measurements of radioactivity and composition of rock from the main hall of the new Canfranc underground laboratory are reported. Estimates of neutron production by spontaneous fission and (α, n) reactions are given.

The project of a micro-TPC matrix of chambers of ³He for direct detection of non-baryonic dark matter is presented. The privileged properties of ³He are highlighted. The double detection (ionization - projection of tracks) is explained and its rejection evaluated. The potentialities of MIMAC-³He for supersymmetric dark matter search are discusse

The Laboratoire Souterrain Bas Bruit (LSBB) in Rustrel-Pays d'Apt, west of Avignon (France) presents a unique combination of environmental and technical characteristics in terms of anthropic activity, seismological noise, gravity, and electromagnetic shielding. Rustrel is the site of activity for small and medium experiments requiring ultra low-noise conditions in various scientific domains, astroparticle physics being one of them.

The direct detection of neutralino dark matter is analysed in the Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (NMSSM). Sizable values for the neutralino detection cross section, within the reach of dark matter detectors, are attainable, due to the exchange of very light Higgses, which have a significant singlet composition. The lightest neutralino exhibits a large singlino-Higgsino composition, and a mass in the range 50 ≲ m_χ⁻⁰₁ ≲ 100 GeV.

We discuss the cosmology and the astrophysical signals produced by light- neutralino dark matter in the frame of an effective MSSM model without gaugino-mass unification at a grand unification scale.

We show that the annual modulation signal observed by DAMA can be reconciled with all other negative results from dark matter searches with a conventional halo model for particle masses around 5 to 9 GeV. We also show which particular dark matter stream could produce the DAMA signal.

In the light of recent and forthcoming experiments (EGRET, CANGAROO, HESS, GLAST), we analyse the effect of the compression of the dark matter due to the infall of baryons to the galactic center on the gamma-ray flux in the Supergravity framework.

It has recently been shown that the electroweak baryogenesis mechanism is feasible in Standard Model extensions containing extra fermions with large Yukawa couplings. We show that the lightest of these fermionic fields can naturally be a good candidate for cold dark matter. We find regions in the parameter space where the thermal relic abundance of this particle is compatible with the dark matter density of the Universe as determined by the WMAP experiment. We study direct and indirect dark matter detection for this model and compare with current experimental limits and prospects for upcoming experiments. We find, contrary to the standard lore, that indirect detection searches are more promising than direct ones, and they already exclude part of the parameter space.

An extension of the minimal standard model by three right-handed neutrinos with masses smaller than the electroweak scale (the νMSM) allows to explain simultaneously neutrino oscillations and dark matter in the universe. We show how to fix the absolute values of the active neutrino masses in this model.

The experimental evidence that the equation of state (EOS) of the dark energy (DE) could be evolving with time/redshift (including the possibility that it might behave phantom-like near our time) suggests that there might be dynamical DE fields that could explain this behavior. We propose, instead, that a variable cosmological term (including perhaps a variable Newton's gravitational coupling too) may account in a natural way for all these features.

The dark energy crossing of the cosmological constant boundary (the transition between the quintessence and phantom regimes) is described in terms of the implicitly defined dark energy equation of state. The generalizations of the models explicitly constructed to exhibit the crossing provide the insight into the cancellation mechanism which makes the transition possible.

This document summarises the potential of AMS in the indirect search for Dark Matter. Observations and cosmology indicate that the Universe may include a large amount of Dark Matter of unknown nature. A good candidate is the Ligthest Supersymmetric Particle in R-Parity conserving models. AMS offers a unique opportunity to study Dark Matter indirect signature in three spectra: gamma, antiprotons and positrons.

The detection of gamma-rays, antiprotons and positrons due to pair annihilation of dark matter particles in the Milky Way halo is a viable tecniques to search for supersymmetric dark matter candidates if there is the possibility to separate the signal from the backgroung generated by standard production mechanisms. Here we discuss the status of this indirect search and the prospective for the future experiments GLAST and PAMELA.

Sunset solar axions traversing the intense magnetic field of the CERN Axion Solar Telescope (CAST) experiment may be detected in a TPC detector, placed at one side of the magnet, as point-like X-rays signals. This signal could be masked, however, by the inhomogeneous radioactive background of materials and experimental site. Here we present the shielding built to reduce and homogenize the radioactive background levels of the TPC detector.

An experiment to search for intermediate mass magnetic monopoles (10⁵-10¹² GeV/c²) and for strangelets or nuclearites in the cosmic radiation is exposed at Chacaltaya Laboratory (5230 m a.s.l.) and at Koksil, Himalaya, (4275 m a.s.l.). With the large area of nuclear track detectors (440 m² at Chacaltaya and 100 m² at Koksil) and the long time exposure will reach a sensitivity to the flux of SQM about 10⁻¹⁵ cm⁻² s⁻¹ sr⁻¹ sr. The results of the analysis, in terms of search for SQM, of large array of detectors at Chacaltaya and exposed for more than 3.5 y are here reported.

The PVLAS collaboration has recently reported the observation of a rotation of the polarization plane of light propagating through a transverse static magnetic field. Such an effect can arise from the production of a light, m_A ∼ meV, pseudoscalar coupled to two photons with coupling strength g_Aγ ∼ 5 × 10⁻⁶ GeV⁻¹. Here, we review these experimental findings, discuss how astrophysical and helioscope bounds on this coupling can be evaded, and emphasize some experimental proposals to test the scenario.

The scintillation properties of undoped sapphire at very low temperature have been studied in the framework of the ROSEBUD (Rare Objects SEarch with Bolometers UnDerground) Collaboration devoted to dark matter searches [1]. We present an estimation of its light yield under gamma, alpha and neutron excitation.

Sodium Iodide scintillators are very interesting particle and radiation detectors. Low background requirements could limit their application in a variety of fields. We report the e.orts to understand and reduce the background in a set of 14 NaI detectors, stored underground since 1988, undertaken in the frame of the ANAIS experiment [1] in several directions, including PSD techniques, Monte Carlo simulations and detector upgrading.

we consider the current direction of searches for spin-dependent dark matter as indicated by the plethora of currently-proposed large volume search activities, indicating a possible blindside to the developments.

Spin-independent exclusion limits on WIMPs reported by various experiments assume theWIMP couples with nucleons in an isospin-independent way. Current exclusions from leading experiments are reassessed in the frame of a new WIMP-model-independent treatment which removes the above restriction. The leading spin-independent searches are shown to constrain a fully isospin-dependent WIMP interaction even though the WIMP-nucleus cross section is quenched.

In stars, four hydrogen nuclei are converted into a helium nucleus by two competing nuclear fusion processes: the proton - proton chain (p-p) and the carbon - nitrogen - oxygen (CNO) cycle. At temperatures higher than 2 · 10⁷ K, the CNO cycle dominates the energy production. In particular, its rate is determined by the slowest reaction: ¹⁴N(p, γ)¹⁵O. Direct measurement in a laboratory at the surface of the Earth is hampered by the background due to the cosmic rays. Here we report on an experiment performed with the LUNA (Laboratory for Underground Nuclear Astrophysics) accelerator placed deep underground in the Gran Sasso laboratory (Italy). Thanks to the cosmic ray suppression provided by the mountain shield, we could measure the ¹⁴N(p, γ)¹⁵O cross section for the first time directly at energies corresponding to stellar temperatures and with unprecedented accuracy. The results are strictly related to carbon stars formation, an independent lower limit on the age of the universe and solar neutrinos flux. The ¹³N and ¹⁵O neutrinos coming from the CNO cycle are strictly correlated to the ¹⁴N(p, γ)¹⁵O S-factor and their flux will play an important role in some future solar neutrino experiment, such as Borexino.

The article describes the research program towards an experiment to observe coherent scattering between neutrinos and the nucleus at the power reactor. The motivations of studying this process are surveyed. In particular, a threshold of 100-200 eV has been achieved with an ultra-low-energy germanium detector prototype. This detection capability at low energy can also be adapted to conduct searches of Cold Dark Matter in the low-mass region as well as to enhance the sensitivities in the study of neutrino magnetic moments.

Using Geant4 Monte-Carlo simulations the potential of the Low Energy Neutrino Astronomy (LENA) liquid scintillator detector for the investigation of a possible proton decay within the channel p → K⁺ is discussed. Special emphasis is given to the study of background events.

We show that liquid organic scintillator detectors (e. g., KamLAND and Borexino) can measure the ⁸B solar neutrino flux by means of the ν_e charged current interaction with the ¹³C nuclei naturally contained in the scintillators. The neutrino events can be identified by exploiting the time and space coincidence with the subsequent decay of the produced ¹³N nuclei.

The SNO experiment ran in its second phase from 2001 to 2003 with ≈2000 kg of salt added to the heavy water. SNO has recently published ⁸B flux results and a charged current neutrino spectrum from the full data set of 391 days. The full first two phases of SNO have also been analyzed for periodicities in the solar neutrino signal. Starting in 2003, an array of neutron detectors was added to the SNO experiment to observe the neutral current reaction. Production data taking has been in progress since November 2004. This array will provide an independent measurement of the total flux of active neutrinos from the sun with different systematic uncertainties from the first two phases of SNO. The SNO experiment finishes data taking at the end of 2006 and the heavy water will be returned. A new liquid scintillator experiment (SNO + ) to measure pep solar neutrinos and geo-neutrinos is planned to be build using the SNO detector and infrastructure.

In the Large Volume Detector (INFN Gran Sasso National Laboratory, Italy) the low energy counting rate (E ∼ 0.8 MeV) of each counter is continuously monitored with a sampling rate of 6/hour. From the analysis of the time variation of these signals in correlation with the measurement obtained by a radon-meter we can conclude that the products of radon decay represent an important source of background for LVD counters in this energy range. In addition, we used these measurements to calibrate our counters in terms of radon detection sensitivity.

The new concept of the spherical TPC aims at relatively large target masses with low threshold and background, keeping an extremely simple and robust operation. Such a device would open the way to detect the neutrino-nucleus interaction, which, although a standard process, remains undetected due to the low energy of the neutrino-induced nuclear recoils. The progress in the development of the first 1 m³ prototype at Saclay is presented. Other physics goals of such a device could include supernova detection, low energy neutrino oscillations and study of non-standard properties of the neutrino, among others.

An intense source of ³⁷Ar was produced by the (n, α) reaction on ⁴⁰Ca by irradiating calcium oxide in the fast neutron breeder reactor at Zarechny, Russia. The ³⁷Ar was released from the solid target, sealed into a small source, and was used to irradiate 13 tonnes of gallium metal in the Russian-American gallium solar neutrino experiment SAGE. The initial source strength was 409 ± 2 kCi. The measured production rate of ⁷¹Ge on gallium metal was 11.0^+1.0_−0.9 (stat) ± 0.6 (syst.) atoms per day, which is 0.79^+0.09_−0.10 of the theoretically calculated production rate.

The detection of low energy neutrinos in a large liquid scintillation detector may provide further important information on astrophysical processes as supernova physics, solar physics and elementary particle physics as well as geophysics. In this contribution, a new project for Low Energy Neutrino Astronomy (LENA) consisting of a 50 kt scintillation detector is presented.

The goal of the Double Chooz reactor neutrino experiment is to search for the neutrino mixing parameter θ₁₃. Double Chooz will use two identical detectors at 150 m and 1.05 km distance from the reactor cores. The near detector is used to monitor the reactor _e flux while the second is dedicated to the search for a deviation from the expected (1/distance)² behavior. This two detector concept will allow a relative normalization systematic error of ca. 0.6 %. The expected sensitivity for sin²2Θ₁₃ is then in the range 0.02 − 0.03 after three years of data taking. The antineutrinos will be detected in a liquid scintillator through the capture on protons followed by a gamma cascade, produced by the neutron capture on Gd.

The MSW effect of supernova neutrino is one of foci of recent neutrino astrophysics. It is still an open question how the shock wave propagation affects the neutrino oscillation. Using an implicit Lagrangian code for general relativistic spherical hydrodynamics, we succeeded in numerical simulations of breakout of shock wave propagation through the stellar envelope. We first discuss our successful result of shock wave propagation which is generated by adiabatic collapse of iron core, and compare with non-adiabatic models. Secondly, we apply our model to the neutrino oscillation and calculate survival probabilities of three light-neutrino families. We discuss how the flux and energy spectrum of each neutrino species can change due to the MSW effect.

We review how a high-statistics observation of the neutrino signal from a future galactic core-collapse supernova (SN) may be used to discriminate between different neutrino mixing scenarios. We discuss two complementary methods that allow for the positive identification of the mass hierarchy without knowledge of the emitted neutrino fluxes, provided that the 13-mixing angle is large, sin² θ₁₃ ≫ 10⁻⁵. These two approaches are the observation of modulations in the neutrino spectra by Earth matter effects or by the passage of shock waves through the SN envelope. If the value of the 13-mixing angle is unknown, using additionally the information encoded in the prompt neutronization ν_e burst—a robust feature found in all modern SN simulations—can be sufficient to fix both the neutrino hierarchy and to decide whether θ₁₃ is ''small'' or ''large.''

We study the effect of random magnetic fields in the spin-flavor precession of solar neutrinos in a three generation context, when a non-vanishing transition magnetic moment is assumed between the second and third families. We have analyzed the high energy solar neutrino data and the KamLAND experiment to constrain the solar mixing angle, θ_⊙, and solar mass difference, Δm²_⊙, and we have found a large shift of allowed values. Also sizable effects in Borexino experiment are expected which can discriminate this scenario and standard Large Mixing Angle (LMA) solution to the solar neutrino problem.

In models with left-right symmetry, type I and II seesaw mechanisms contribute to the light neutrino mass matrix m in a correlated way, via the Higgs triplet Yukawa coupling matrix f. Once m is fixed, we show that a given structure of f satisfies the seesaw formula if and only if ≡ m − f does. We investigate the consequences of this ''seesaw duality''. Preprint SACLAY-T05/180

We propose a new explanation of the intriguing LSND evidence for electron antineutrino appearance in terms of heavy (mostly sterile) neutrino decay via a coupling with a light scalar and light (mostly active) neutrinos. We perform a fit to the LSND data, as well as all relevant null-result experiments, taking into account the distortion of the spectrum due to decay. By requiring a coupling g ∼ 10⁻⁵, a heavy neutrino mass m₄ ∼ 100 keV and a mixing with muon neutrinos |U_µ4|² ∼ 10⁻², we show that this model explains all existing data evading constraints that disfavor standard (3 + 1) neutrino models.

The final set of Soudan-2 data has been prepared including both events with their vertex within the detector and upgoing stopping muons originating in neutrino interactions within the rock surrounding the detector. This data set was analyzed for effects of atmospheric neutrino oscillations. The resulting probability of no oscillations was found to be 3.2 × 10⁻⁵. The improved 90% CL contour in sin²2θ × log₁₀(Δm²) is given, and found to be independent of the choice of 1D or 3D neutrino flux model. The Soudan 2 allowed contour includes, but is broader than, the 90% CL contours reported by SuperK and MACRO.

The final CHORUS results of the search for tau-lepton decays and the analysis of the final statistics in terms of ν_µ - ν_τ oscillation will be presented.

The HARP measurement of the TT π⁺ production cross-section by 12.9 GeV/c protons on aluminum, with 8.2% average point-to-point error and an overall uncertainty below 6%, is presented as well as the implications to the K2K neutrino oscillation experiment

The physics motivations, design, and status of the Booster Neutrino Experiment at Fermilab, MiniBooNE, are briefly discussed. Particular emphasis is given on the ongoing preparatory work that is needed for the MiniBooNE muon neutrino to electron neutrino oscillation appearance search. This search aims to confirm or refute in a definitive and independent way the evidence for neutrino oscillations reported by the LSND experiment.

K2K is the first accelerator experiment to investigate neutrino oscillation in the Δm² region of atmospheric neutrinos. The observed energy dependent disappearance of ν_µ leads, with a preliminary analysis of the full statistics, to the determination of sin²2θ = 1.19±0.23 and Δm² = (2.55±0.40)×10⁻³ eV². The T2K experiment, follow-up of K2K, will start data taking in 2009. T2K will use the new high intensity muon neutrino beam now under construction at JPARC. Neutrino interactions will be detected, as for K2K, in SuperKamiokande at a distance of 295 km. Main goals of the experiment are a high sensitivity search for ν_e appearance and a study of ν_µ with precision δ(Δm²₂₃) ∼ 1 × 10⁻⁴eV² and δ(sin²2θ₂₃) ∼ 0.01.

OPERA is a neutrino oscillation experiment designed to perform a ν_τ appearance search in the future CNGS beam from CERN to Gran Sasso. The identification of the τ lepton produced by a CC ν_τ interaction is based on the use of the nuclear emulsion technique. The OPERA detector is presently under construction in the Gran Sasso underground laboratory, 730 km from CERN, and will receive its first neutrinos in 2006. The experimental technique is reviewed and the development of the project described. Foreseen performances in measuring ν_τ appearance and also in searching for ν_e appearance are discussed.

Beta beams could be the ideal tool for future neutrino oscillation experiments aimed to discover non zero values of the mixing angle θ₁₃ and leptonic CP violation

We explore the possibility of simultaneous determination of neutrino mass hierarchy and the CP violating phase by using two identical detectors placed in Kamioka and Korea for the J-PARC neutrino beam. We demonstrate, under reasonable assumptions of systematic uncertainties, that the two-detector complex with each fiducial volume of 0.27 Mton has potential of resolving neutrino mass hierarchy up to sin² 2θ₁₃ > 0.03 (0.055) at 2σ (3σ) CL for any values of δ and at the same time has the sensitivity to CP violation by 4 + 4 years running of ν_e and _e appearance measurement. The significantly enhanced sensitivity is due to cancellation of systematic uncertainties between two identical detectors which receive the neutrino beam with the same energy spectrum in the absence of oscillations.

In this paper, we discuss the possibilities offered to neutrino physics by the upgrades of the CERN accelerator complex. Emphasis is on the physics reach of a medium γ (350-580) β-beam that fully exploits the improvements in the CERN accelerator complex for the luminosity/energy upgrade of the LHC. We show that, this design not only profits of the ongoing efforts for the upgrades of the LHC, but also leverage out the existing infrastructures of the LNGS underground laboratory. Furthermore, given the involved high neutrino energies, above 1 GeV, a non-magnetized iron detector could efficiently exploit the neutrino beam. We show that the performance of this complex for what concerns the discovery of the CP violation in the leptonic sector, in case θ₁₃ is discovered by Phase I experiments, is comparable with the current baseline design based on a gigantic water Cherenkov at Frejus. Furthermore, this complex has also some sensitivity to the neutrino mass hierarchy.

The GERDA, a new experiment to search for the double beta decay of ⁷⁶Ge, is being installed at Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso. The potentialities of this experiment as well the status of the project are reviewed.

The objective of the Majorana experiment is to study neutrinoless double beta decay ββ(0ν) with an effective Majorana-neutrino mass sensitivity near 100 meV in order to characterize theMajorana nature of the neutrino, the Majorana mass spectrum, and the absolute mass scale. An experimental study of the neutrino mass scale implied by neutrino oscillation results is now technically within our grasp. This exciting physics goal is best pursued using the well-established technique of searching for ββ(0ν) of ⁷⁶Ge, augmented with recent advances in signal processing and detector design. The Majorana experiment will consist of a large mass of ⁷⁶Ge in the form of high-resolution intrinsic germanium detectors located deep underground within a low-background shielding environment. Observation of a sharp peak at the ββ endpoint will quantify the ββ(0ν) half-life and thus the effective Majorana mass of the electron neutrino.

A new estimate of the production rates of several long-lived isotopes cosmogenically induced in germanium is presented, paying attention to those products relevant in Double Beta Decay searches. Special care has been taken in the selection of reliable excitation functions.

Latest results on ββ0ν, ββ0νχ⁰ and ββ2ν decays of different isotopes from NEMO- 3 double beta decay experiment are presented. In particular, new limits on neutrinoless double beta decay of ¹⁰⁰Mo and ⁸²Se have been obtained, T_½ > 4.6 × 10²³ y and T_½ > 1 × 10²³ y (90% C.L.), respectively. A possible next step with SuperNEMO detector is discussed.

The MOON (Molybdenum Observatory Of Neutrinos) project, as an extension of ELEGANT V, aims at spectroscopic studies of double beta decays from ¹⁰⁰Mo with a sensitivity of the Majorana neutrino mass around 30 meV. Measurements with good energy and position resolutions enable one to select true signals and to reject background ones. A prototype MOON detector (MOON Phase-1A) with 142 g ¹⁰⁰Mo was built and is running at the Oto underground laboratory. The present report describes briefly the outline of the MOON project and the present status of MOON-1.

The COBRA experiment is going to use a large amount of CdZnTe semiconductor detectors to perform a search for various double beta decay modes. The current status of the experiment is presented, as well as first results. A half-life measurement of the 4-fold forbidden non-unique beta-decay of ¹¹³Cd has been performed. Improved half-life limits for the ground state transitions of ⁶⁴Zn for 0νβ⁺/EC and 0νEC/EC have been obtained. A short outlook on future activities is given.

CANDLES is the project to search for neutrinoless double beta(0νββ) decay of ⁴⁸Ca by using CaF₂ scintillators. The observation of 0νββ decay will prove existence of a massive Majorana neutrino. The expected performances of the CANDLES system for lightsignal detection and background rejection are presented here. The current status of development for the detector system is also described.

The LUNA collaboration, aimed to the direct measurement of nuclear cross sections interesting for the astrophysics with an underground accelerator, is presently working on a new experiment; the study of the ³He(⁴He, γ)⁷Be reaction counting both the prompt γ emission and the delayed ⁷Be activity. So far, several groups have studied this reaction ([1, 2] and references therein) collecting two sub-sets of results (i.e. experiments on prompt and delayed γ counting) which show a systematic disagreement of about 11%. Recent and precise determinations of solar neutrinos flux [3] require a further investigation of the ³He(⁴He, γ)⁷Be cross section at the lowest possible energy with an accuracy better of 4%.

BOREXINO and GERDA are experiments which require an ultra-low background. The first one is a large scale, real-time liquid scintillation detector for low energy solar neutrinos, where only a few tens of events per day are expected. GERDA will look for the neutrinoless double decay of ⁷⁶Ge. To minimize the background bare germanium crystals (enriched up to 86% in ⁷⁶Ge) will be operated in ultra-pure liquid nitrogen or liquid argon.

MOON is a multilayer system of plastic scintillators and ¹⁰⁰Mo films for ¹⁰⁰Mo 0νββ decays. A prototype detector MOON-1 was built with 6 layers of plastic scintillators and 142g of 100Mo films for background (BG), energy and position resolution studies of the MOON detector. No serious BG from natural radioactive isotopes (RI) for 0νββ detection was found.

The Gerda [1] and Majorana [2] projects, both searching for the neutrinoless double beta-decay of ⁷⁶Ge, are developing a joint Monte-Carlo simulation framework called MaGe. Such an approach has many benefits: the workload for the development of general tools is shared between more experts, the code is tested in more detail, and more experimental data is made available for validation.

This is a brief summary of the poster describing the MINERνA experiment

According to the Reference Earth Flux model built within the Bulk Silicate Earth framework, the number of events due to the antineutrinos coming from the Earth, in the Borexino detector at Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso will be on the order of 6-7 per year per 300 tons. Input data are taken from table XII of [4] and references within. For more information see G. Fiorentini in these proceedings.

In this paper we review the main features of the observed Cosmic Rays spectrum in the energy range 10¹⁷eV ÷ 10²⁰eV. We present a theoretical model that explains the main observed features of the spectrum, namely the second Knee and Dip, and implies a transition from Galactic to Extra-Galactic cosmic rays at energy E ≃ 10¹⁸ eV, with a proton dominated Extra-Galactic spectrum.

''GZK photons'' are produced by extragalactic nucleons through the resonant photoproduction of pions. We present the expected range of the GZK photon fraction of UHECR, assuming a particular UHECR spectrum and primary nucleons, and compare it with the minimal photon fraction predicted by Top-Down models.

We use the formalism of finite-temperature field theory to study the interactions of ultra-high energy (UHE) cosmic neutrinos with the background of relic neutrinos and to derive general expressions for the UHE neutrino transmission probability. This approach allows us to take into account the thermal effects introduced by the momentum distribution of the relic neutrinos. We compare our results with the approximate expressions existing in the literature and discuss the influence of thermal effects on the absorption dips in the context of favoured neutrino mass schemes, as well as in the case of clustered relic neutrinos.

We show that new detectors dedicated to direct measurements of charged cosmic ray (CR) nuclei at energies > 100 GeV/n could determine the diffusion coefficient power index δ through the measurement of the boron-to-carbon ratio with an uncertainty of about 10-15 %. Space-based or satellite detectors will be able to determine d with very high accuracy even in the case of important systematic errors. We also find that no uncertainties other than those on δ affect the determination of the acceleration slope α, so that measures of light primary nuclei performed with the same experiments will provide valuable information also on the acceleration mechanisms.

Sgr A East is a supernova remnant located few parsecs away from the Galactic Centre (GC). There are good reasons to believe that this object is the source of the gamma-ray excess detected by HESS in the direction of the GC meaning that Sgr A East is likely to be an efficient Cosmic Ray (CR) accelerator. This source is embedded in a dense gas environment and an IR background which may act as astrophysical beam dump where secondary photons, neutrinos and neutrons can be produced. In particular, if ⁴He nuclei are accelerated beyond the EeV in Sgr A East, neutrons with energy close to the EeV should be produced by the photodisintegration of these nuclei onto the thick IR background. Neutrons with such an energy can reach the Earth before decaying and may be detectable under the form of a CR point-like excess in the direction of the GC. We determined the expected energy spectrum and the amplitude of this signal showing that it may be measurable by the AUGER observatory. Using the HESS data to normalise the primary proton spectrum, we also estimated the expected neutrino signal produced by secondary pion decay for ANTARES and for a forthcoming Mediterranean km³ neutrino telescope.

We simulate the LPM showers due to Extremely-High-Energy(EHE) neutrinos traversing atmosphere horizontally without colliding with the Earth. We calculate the LPM showers with energies of 10¹⁷eV to 10²²eV, using the hybrid method as exactly as possible. Reffecting the complicated change in the air density along the trajectories of the shower developments, the variety of the LPM showers is shown to depend on their starting points and their heights. The EHE LPM showers in atmosphere are exclusively produced by EHE neutrinos. Therefore, the studies on the LPM showers are very important for EHE neutrino astrophysics. As an example, the air fluorescence photon profiles of the LPM showers are also given for the future satellite-based experiment.

A new parameterisation of atmospheric muons deep underwater (or ice) is presented. It takes into account the simultaneous arrival of muons in bundle giving the multiplicity of the events and the muon energy spectrum as a function of their lateral distribution in a shower.

AMANDA is a high energy neutrino telescope consisting of 677 optical modules at 1.5-2 km depth in glacial ice at the south pole. We summarize AMANDA results for observation of atmospheric neutrinos and searches of extraterrestrial neutrinos from point sources, gamma ray bursts and diffuse fluxes. Upper limits at 90%CL are presented. The status of IceCube, the 1 km³ successor to AMANDA currently under construction is presented.

We review the present status of the Baikal Neutrino Experiment. On April 9th, 2005 the 10 Mton scale detector NT200+ was put into operation in Lake Baikal. We describe the configuration and physics potential of this detector. Selected results obtained during 1998-2002 with the neutrino telescope NT200 are presented.

The ANTARES Collaboration is building an underwater neutrino telescope in the Mediterranean sea. The telescope is designed to search for high energy (E > 1 TeV) galactic and extra-galactic neutrino sources, but could also be sensitive to neutrinos originating from the decay of neutralino and exotic particles. The detector is a 3-dimensional array of photomultipliers located at a depth of 2500 m, 40 km from the La Seyne sur Mer shore (near Toulon, France). During the year 2005 a full scale test line and an instrumented line have been successfully operated. In the winter '05-'06 the first full 480 m line will be deployed and connected to the shore station.

A module of the NESTOR underwater neutrino telescope was deployed at a depth of 3800 m in order to test the overall detector performance and particularly that of the data acquisition systems. A prolonged period of running under stable operating conditions made it possible to measure the cosmic ray muon flux, I₀ · cos^a (θ).

The latest results of the R&D activities for the realisation of a km³ Cherenkov neutrino detector, carried out by the NEMO collaboration, are described. A long-term survey of a 3500 m deep site close to the coast of Sicily has shown that it is optimal for the installation of the detector. A complete feasibility study, that considers all the components of the detector as well as its deployment, has been carried out demonstrating that technological solutions exist for the realization of an underwater km³ detector. The realization of a technological demonstrator of the apparatus (the NEMO Phase 1 project) is under way.

MAGIC is the world-largest Imaging Air Cherenkov Telescope (IACT) for Very High Energy (VHE) γ-ray astronomy and operates in the range from ∼50 GeV to ∼10 TeV. In this paper we will briefly summarize the status of the project, including the construction of a second (MAGIC-II) telescope, and review the results obtained from the first observations.

The AGN 1ES1959+650 has been observed with the MAGIC telescope in September and October 2004. The MAGIC Telescope is a low energy threshold IACT with, which is well suited for observations of weak γ-ray sources with soft spectra. During the first observations by MAGIC, 1ES1959+650 was in a low state of activity both in X-ray and in optical wavelengths. The analysis of VHE γ-ray data showed a ∼8σ significant signal, while no strong variation of emission during the examined period has been found. The mean measured γ-ray flux was ∼17% of Crab Nebula above 300 GeV. The measured differential energy spectrum between 150 GeV and 2 TeV can be described by a power law function of spectral index α = (2.72±0.14).

The ARGO-YBJ experiment has been designed to decrease the energy threshold of typical Extensive Air Shower arrays by exploiting the high altitude location (Tibet, People's Republic of China, 4300 m a.s.l.) and the full coverage. The lower energy limit of the detector (a few GeV) is reached with the single particle technique, recording the counting rate at fixed time intervals. We present first results concerning the search for emission from Gamma-Ray Bursts in coincidence with satellite detections

The origin of high-energy cosmic rays in the energy range from 10¹⁴ to 10¹⁸ eV is explored with the KASCADE and KASCADE-Grande experiments. Radio signals from air showers are measured with the LOPES experiment. An overview on results is given.

LOPES - LOFAR PrototypE Station (LOFAR - LOw Frequency ARray) is an array of dipole antennas used for the detection of radio emission from cosmic ray air showers. It is co-located and triggered by the KASCADE (KArlsruhe Shower Core and Array Detector) experiment, which also provides information about air shower properties like electron number N_e, muon number N_µ, azimuth and zenith angle. LOPES-10 (the first phase of LOPES, consisting of 10 antennas) detected a significant number of cosmic ray air showers with a zenith angle larger than 50°, and many of those have very high field strengths. The most inclined event that has been detected with LOPES-10 has a zenith angle of almost 80°. This is important, because cosmic ray air showers with large inclinations, triggered close to the ground, would be a signature of neutrino events. Due to the small baseline of the LOPES-10 detector, it is not yet possible to determine accuratelly the radius of curvature of the showers front, which is related to the distance to the maximum of shower development. However, this should be possible in the future with a large baseline radio telescope like LOFAR.

The ARGO-YBJ detector, installed at the Yangbajing Cosmic Ray Laboratory (Tibet, China), at 4300m a.s.l., is a full coverage layer of Resistive Plate Counters (RPCs) covering an area of about 5800 m². The high space-time granularity, the full-coverage technique and the high altitude location will make this detector a unique device for deeply investigating a large variety of astrophysical phenomena. In this work, the capabilities of ARGO-YBJ in imaging and reconstructing in detail some of the main atmospheric shower features will be presented.

A cosmic-ray experiment of new type is under construction in the Pyhäsalmi 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.

The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) is a particle physics detector designed to operate on the International Space Station (ISS) for a minimum period of three years. The aim of AMS is the direct detection of charged particles in the rigidity range from 0.5 GV to few TV to perform high statistics studies of cosmic rays in space and a search for antimatter and dark matter. AMS will provide precise gamma measurements in the GeV range. In addition, the good angular resolution and identification capabilities of the detector will allow clean studies of galactic and extra-galactic sources, the diffuse gamma background and gamma ray bursts.

We have analyzed the physics potential of a reference next-generation detector in providing information on (galactic and extragalactic) supernova neutrino flavor transitions.

With the 17 meter MAGIC telescope we have searched for pulsed gamma rays from the Crab pulsar, and obtained new flux upper limits for its pulsed emission.

Using the narrow clustering of the geometrically corrected gamma-ray energies released by Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs), we investigate the possibility of using these sources as cosmological standard candles to discriminate between different models for quintessence.

We present the first results on the angular resolution of the ARGO-YBJ detector in data taking at the Yangbajing Laboratory (Tibet, People's Republic of China, 4300 m a.s.l.).

The NEMO Collaboration is involved in a long term R&D activity towards the construction of a km³ telescope in the Mediterranean sea. It has dedicated special efforts in the development of technologies for a km³ detector and in the search, characterization and monitoring of a deep sea site adequate for the installation of the Mediterranean km³. Now the NEMO Collaboration is involved in the Phase 1 of the project, planning to install a fully equipped deep-sea facility to test prototypes and develop new technologies for the detector. A full Monte Carlo simulation has been performed to analyse the response of a reduced-size detector to the passage of atmospheric muons. Preliminary steps of the simulation are presented in this work.

Predictions on the positive excess based on data from cosmic ray experiments, data from accelerators and on ideas in the frames of modern theoretical QCD models are given up to 10⁵ GeV. An estimation of the accuracy of these calculations is better than 3% for a wide energy interval.

There is a blossoming demand for deep underground laboratory space to satisfy the expanding interest in experiments that require significant cosmic-ray shielding. I'll briefly describe the existing deep facilities and their plans for expansion. I will also discuss the planning for a new major underground facility in the U.S.

The only clear evidence today for physics beyond the standard model comes from underground experiments and the future activity of underground laboratories appears challenging and rich. I review here the existing underground research facilities in Europe. I present briefly the main characteristics, scientific activity and perspectives of these Laboratories and discuss the present coordination actions in the framework of the European Union.

The status of the 4 operating cylindrical gravitational waves resonant antenna detectors is summarized. A short review is given of the experimental results and of the next generation projects. Resonant detectors are now sensitive to the strongest potential sources of gravitational waves in our galaxy and in the local group. Recently interferometric detectors have achieved very good perfomances, but resonant detectors are still competitive particularly for what concern the very good live-time.

There has been a rapid advance in the sensitivity of broadband searches for gravitational waves, using an international network of kilometer-scale laser interferometers. The LIGO detectors in North America, the GEO600 detector in Germany and the TAMA300 detector in Japan have conducted searches for gravitational waves covering a frequency range from below 100 Hz up to many kHz. These detectors and the VIRGO detector in Italy are in a mature state of commissioning and technology development for a generation of more advanced detectors is ongoing.

I highlight some main aspects of the present complementarity in looking for new physics beyond the Standard Model between accelerator physics and direct and indirect dark matter searches.

We present some useful ways to visualize the nature of dark energy and the effects of the accelerating expansion on cosmological quantities. Expansion probes such as Type Ia supernovae distances and growth probes such as weak gravitational lensing and the evolution of large scale structure provide powerful tests in complementarity. We present a ''ladder'' diagram, showing that in addition to dramatic improvements in precision, next generation probes will provide insight through an increasing ability to test assumptions of the cosmological framework, including gravity beyond general relativity.

The results from the second run of the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search experiment in the Soudan Underground Laboratory yields new exclusion limits on the coherent WIMPnucleon scalar cross-sections for WIMP masses above 15 GeV/c². Two towers, each consisting of six detectors, were operated in the mine for 74.5 live days, doubling the previous Ge exposure to 34 kg-d after cuts for recoil energies of 10-100 keV. When combined with the data from the first run at Soudan, the new upper limit is 1.6 × 10⁻⁴³ cm² for a 60 GeV WIMP using the standard dark-matter halo and nuclear physics WIMP model. This is a factor of 2.5 lower than our previous limit and a factor of 10 lower than any other experiment. Limits from the Si data (12 kg-d) are less stringent, but extend the excluded region for low mass WIMPs. CDMS also has sensitivity to spin-dependent limits.

EDELWEISS is a direct search for WIMPs using cryogenic germanium ionizationphonon detectors and located in the Modane underground laboratory. We summarize the final results of the EDELWEISS I experiment obtained with up to nearly a kilogram of detectors. The increased exposure confirms previous results. We also report on the preparations for EDELWEISS II. Preliminary results are expected in 2006; the experiment could ultimately deploy up to 40 kg of detectors. Goals are to gain two orders of magnitude in sensitivity and to serve as a testbed for an even larger, tonne-scale, experiment.

CRESST (Cryogenic Rare Event Search with Superconducting Thermometers) employs cryogenic detectors for the direct search for weakly interacting massive dark matter particles (WIMPs). In the second phase of the experiment scintillating calcium tungstate crystals are used to discriminate background by means of different light yield for background and WIMP signals. After first results with this novel technique have been obtained, the experimental setup is being upgraded for further background reduction and larger target mass. The results and present status of the experiment will be presented.

DAMA is an observatory for rare processes and it is operative deep underground at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory of the I.N.F.N.. In particular, the DAMA/NaI setup (≃ 100 kg highly radiopure NaI(Tl)) has effectively investigated the model-independent annual modulation signature. The data of seven annual cycles (total exposure of 107731 kg × day) have offered 6.3 σ C.L. model-independent evidence for the presence of a Dark Matter particle component in the galactic halo. Some corollary model-dependent quests for the candidate particle have been investigated. In particular, in addition to WIMPs, also light bosonic candidates can account for the model independent DAMA/NaI result. At present, the second generation DAMA/LIBRA set-up (≃ 250 kg highly radiopure NaI(Tl)) is in data taking.

We give a status report on three experiments aiming at the direct detection of dark matter. ZEPLIN II is a two phase xenon ionization/scintillation detector currently undergoing commissioning at the Boulby underground laboratory. ZEPLIN III is a two phase xenon ionization/scintillation detector currently being tested at a UKDMC surface facility. DRIFT II is a low pressure CS₂ gas time proportional chamber currently taking data at the Boulby underground laboratory.

The astronomical dark matter could be made of weakly interacting massive species whose mutual annihilations should produce antimatter particles and distortions in the corresponding energy spectra. The propagation of cosmic rays inside the Milky Way plays a crucial role and is briefly presented. The uncertainties in its description lead to considerable variations in the predicted primary fluxes. This point is illustrated with antiprotons. Finally, the various forthcoming projects are rapidly reviewed with their potential reach.

With the passing of John N. Bahcall in August, 2005, our field has lost a pioneer, innovator, mentor and friend. John has made many contributions to the fields of astrophysics and neutrino physics. In this memorial, I will primarily trace John's many contributions to neutrino physics and solar physics and indicate ways that he has displayed strong leadership during his extraordinary scientific career.

There has been considerable progress in understanding the sun and properties of neutrinos through measurements of solar neutrinos. This paper will discuss the present status of such measurements, the physics information obtainable from them and from the wide variety of measurements planned for the future.

Intense and well-understood neutrino production at nuclear power reactors has been and planned to be used for studying various properties of neutrinos and important physics parameters such as magnetic moment, Weinberg angle, sterile component, θ_{12, 13}, Δm²_{21, 31} and so on. Highlighted here are the recent precise measurement of Δm²₂₁ at about 180km baseline with reactor neutrinos. Studying geophysics with neutrinos is one of applications using neutrinos as a probe for peering astronomical objects. The big and low-background detector dedicated for the long-baseline reactor experiment is also applicable to observe geologically-produced _es and the first observational results from the experiment is also reported here.

Results from the atmospheric neutrino measurements are presented. Evidence for the ν_τ appearance in the atmospheric neutrino events was shown by statistical methods. The long baseline oscillation experiment using man-made neutrinos has confirmed the atmospheric neutrino oscillation. The future accelerator experiments are briefly discussed.

Status of determination of the neutrino masses and mixing is formulated and possible uncertainties especially due to presence of the sterile neutrinos are discussed. The data hint an existence of special ''neutrino'' symmetries. If not accidental these symmetries have profound implications and can substantially change the unification program. The key issue on the way to the underlying physics is relations between quarks and leptons. The approximate quark-lepton symmetry or universality can be reconciled with strongly different patterns of masses and mixings due to nearly singular character of the mass matrices or screening of the Dirac structures in the double see-saw mechanism.

The results obtained so far and those of the running experiments on neutrinoless double beta decay are reviewed. The plans for second generation experiments, the techniques to be adopted and the expected sensitivities are compared and discussed.

I will give an overview of the current status of our understanding on the mechanism of collapse-driven supernovae and related phenomena, paying a particular attention to the asymmetry of dynamics and neutrino signals from them.

We discuss the implications of KamLAND result on geo-neutrinos for the radiogenic contribution of Uranium to terrestrial heat. We also discuss the potential of future experiments for assessing the amount of Uranium and Thorium in different reservoirs (crust, mantle and core) of the Earth.

The status of measurements of the arrival directions, mass composition and energy spectrum of cosmic rays above 3 × 10¹⁸ eV (3 EeV) is reviewed using reports presented at the 29th International Cosmic Ray Conference held in Pune, India, in August 2005.

We briefly discuss some open problems and recent developments in the investigation of the origin and propagation of ultra high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs).

The search for high energy neutrinos of astryphysical origin is being conducted today with two water/ice Cherenkov experiments. New instruments of higher performance are now in construction and more are in the the R&D phase. No sources have been found to date. Upper limits on neutrino fluxes are approaching model predictions. Results are reported on the search for point sources, diffuse fluxes, gamma ray bursts, dark matter and other sources.

We discuss briefly the potential sources of high energy astrophysical neutrinos and show estimates of the neutrino fluxes that they can produce. A special attention is paid to the connection between the highest energy cosmic rays and astrophysical neutrinos.

In the upcoming decade, observatories for cosmic neutrinos will open up a huge window in energy from 10⁷ GeV to 10¹⁷ GeV, much above the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin (GZK) cutoff at about 4×10¹⁰ GeV, expected for cosmic protons and nuclei due to inelastic interactions with the cosmic microwave background photons. In this review, we discuss in particular the possibilities to use extremely energetic cosmic neutrinos as a diagnostic of astrophysical processes, as a tool for particle physics beyond the Standard Model, and as a probe of cosmology.

The recent operation of a new generation of Cherenkov telescopes is providing unprecedented results which are opening in the last months a truly new age in VHE cosmic gamma-ray observations. We're in the down of the setting of a new window in our observation of the cosmos: VHE gamma-ray astronomy. The techniques and concepts used by these new telescopes is reviewed and the main scientific highlights from the observations performed so far are presented.

The recent detection of TeV γ-rays from the microquasar LS 5039 by HESS is one of the most exciting discoveries of observational gamma-ray astronomy in the very high energy regime. This result clearly demonstrates that X-ray binaries with relativistic jets (microquasars) are sites of effective acceleration of particles (electrons and/or protons) to multi-TeV energies. Whether the γ-rays are of hadronic or leptonic origin is a key issue related to the origin of Galactic Cosmic Rays. We discuss different possible scenarios for the production of γ-rays, and argue in favor of hadronic origin of TeV photons, especially if they are produced within the binary system. If so, the detected γ-rays should be accompanied by a flux of high energy neutrinos emerging from the decays of π± mesons produced at pp and/or pγ interactions. The flux of TeV neutrinos, which can be estimated on the basis of the detected TeV γ-ray flux, taking into account the internal γγ → e⁺ e⁻ absorption, depends significantly on the location of γ-ray production region(s). The minimum neutrino flux above 1 TeV is expected to be at the level of 10⁻¹² cm⁻²s⁻¹; however, it could be up to a factor of 100 larger. The detectability of the signal of multi-TeV neutrinos significantly depends on the high energy cutoff in the spectrum of parent protons; if the spectrum of accelerated protons continues to 1 PeV and beyond, the predicted neutrino fluxes can be probed by the planned km³-scale neutrino detector.