ANTARES, A LARGE UNDERWATER NEUTRINO DETECTOR

The development and construction of the ANTARES detector is presented. The physics of underwater neutrino detection is discussed with emphas is on the research potential concerning new physics (mainly new elemen tary mechanisms) relevant to this conference and with a summary of res earch on high-energy neutrino astrophysical sources. The collaboration is currently deploying various instrumental setups in deep water in o rder to measure site qualities and optimize the detector parameters. S trings of optical modules connected to the shore are under constructio n. The steps toward a demonstrator with several strings and a future k m(3) detector are outlined.