Simulation Chain for Acoustic Ultra-high Energy Neutrino Detectors

Acoustic neutrino detection is a promising approach for lar ge-scale ultra-high energy neutrino detectors in water. In this article, a Monte Carlo simulation chain for acoustic neutrino detection devices in water is presented. It is designed within the Se aTray/IceTray software framework. Its modular architecture is highly flex ible and makes it easy to adapt to different environmental conditions, detector geometries, and hardware. The simulation chain covers the generation of the acoustic pulse produced by a neutrino interaction and the propagation to the sensors within the detecto r. In this phase of the development, ambient and transient noise models for the Mediterranean Sea and simulations of the data acquisition hardware, similar to the one used in ANTARES/AMADEUS, are implemented. A pre-selection scheme for neutrino-like signals based on matched filtering is employed, as it can be used f or on-line filtering. To simulate the whole processing chain for experi mental data, signal classification and acoustic source reco nstruction algorithms are integrated. In this contribution, an overvi ew of the design and capabilities of the simulation chain will be given, and some applications and preliminary studies will be presente d.