Abstract:
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The ANTARES collaboration has performed a series of {\em in situ} measurements
to study the background light for a planned undersea neutrino telescope. Such
background can be caused by $^{40}$K decays or by biological activity. We
report on measurements at two sites in the Mediterranean Sea at depths of 2400
m and 2700 m, respectively. Three photomultiplier tubes were used to measure
single counting rates and coincidence rates for pairs of tubes at various
distances. The background rate is seen to consist of three components: a
constant rate due to $^{40}$K decays, a continuum rate that varies on a time
scale of several hours simultaneously over distances up to at least 40~m, and
random bursts a few seconds long that are only correlated in time over
distances of the order of a meter. A trigger requiring coincidences between
nearby photomultiplier tubes should reduce the trigger rate for a neutrino
telescope to a manageable level with only a small loss in efficiency.
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