Comparison of geometrical layouts for next-generation large-volume Cherenkov neutrino telescopes

Abstract Water-(Ice-) Cherenkov neutrino telescopes have played a pivotal role in the search and discovery of high-energy astrophysical neutrinos. Experimental collaborations are developing and constructing next-generation neutrino telescopes with improved optical modules (OMs) and larger geometrical volumes to increase their efficiency in the multi-TeV energy range and extend their reach to EeV energies. Although most existing telescopes share similar OM layouts, more layout options should be explored for next-generation detectors to maximize discovery capability. In this work, we study a set of layouts at different geometrical volumes and evaluate the signal event selection efficiency and reconstruction fidelity under both an only trigger-level linear regression algorithm and an offline Graph Neural Network (GNN) reconstruction. Our methodology and findings serve as first steps toward an optimized, global network of neutrino telescopes.