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The next generation neutrino observatory proposed by the LBNO collaboration will address fundamental questions in particle and astroparticle physics. The experiment consists of a far detector, in its first stage a 20 kt LAr double phase TPC and a magnetised iron calorimeter, situated at 2300 km from CERN and a near detector based on a high-pressure argon gas TPC. The long baseline provides a unique opportunity to study neutrino flavour oscillations over their 1st and 2nd oscillation maxima exploring the $L/E$ behaviour, and distinguishing effects arising from $delta_{CP}$ and matter. In this paper we have reevaluated the physics potential of this setup for determining the mass hierarchy (MH) and discovering CP-violation (CPV), using a conventional neutrino beam from the CERN SPS with a power of 750 kW. We use conservative assumptions on the knowledge of oscillation parameter priors and systematic uncertainties. The impact of each systematic error and the precision of oscillation prior is shown. We demonstrate that the first stage of LBNO can determine unambiguously the MH to $>5sigma$C.L. over the whole phase space. We show that the statistical treatment of the experiment is of very high importance, resulting in the conclusion that LBNO has $sim$ 100% probability to determine the MH in at most 4-5 years of running. Since the knowledge of MH is indispensable to extract $delta_{CP}$ from the data, the first LBNO phase can convincingly give evidence for CPV on the $3sigma$C.L. using todays knowledge on oscillation parameters and realistic assumptions on the systematic uncertainties.
We study the neutrino oscillation physics performance of the Long-Baseline Neutrino Experiment (LBNE) in various configurations. In particular, we compare the case of a surface detector at the far site augmented by a near detector, to that with the far site detector placed deep underground but no near detector. In the latter case, information from atmospheric neutrino events is also utilized. For values of theta_{13} favored by reactor experiments and a 100 kt-yr exposure, we find roughly equivalent sensitivities to the neutrino mass hierarchy, the octant of theta_{23}, and to CP violation. We also find that as the exposure is increased, the near detector helps increase the sensitivity to CP violation substantially more than atmospheric neutrinos.
The p-value or statistical significance of a CP conservation null hypothesis test is determined from counting electron neutrino and antineutrino appearance oscillation events. The statistical estimates include cases with background events and different data sample sizes, graphical plots to interpret results and methods to combine p-values from different experiments. These estimates are useful for optimizing the search for CP violation with different amounts of neutrino and antineutrino beam running, comparing results from different experiments and for simple cross checks of more elaborate statistical estimates that use likelihood fitting of neutrino parameters.
One of the main goals of the Long Baseline Neutrino Observatory (LBNO) is to study the $L/E$ behaviour (spectral information) of the electron neutrino and antineutrino appearance probabilities, in order to determine the unknown CP-violation phase $delta_{CP}$ and discover CP-violation in the leptonic sector. The result is based on the measurement of the appearance probabilities in a broad range of energies, covering t he 1st and 2nd oscillation maxima, at a very long baseline of 2300 km. The sensitivity of the experiment can be maximised by optimising the energy spectra of the neutrino and anti-neutrino fluxes. Such an optimisation requires exploring an extended range of parameters describing in details the geometries and properties of the primary protons, hadron target and focusing elements in the neutrino beam line. In this paper we present a numerical solution that leads to an optimised energy spectra and study its impact on the sensitivity of LBNO to discover leptonic CP violation. In the optimised flux both 1st and 2nd oscillation maxima play an important role in the CP sensitivity. The studies also show that this configuration is less sensitive to systematic errors (e.g. on the total event rates) than an experiment which mainly relies on the neutrino-antineutrino asymmetry at the 1st maximum to determine the existence of CP-violation.
The proposed Long Baseline Neutrino Observatory (LBNO) initially consists of $sim 20$ kton liquid double phase TPC complemented by a magnetised iron calorimeter, to be installed at the Pyhasalmi mine, at a distance of 2300 km from CERN. The conventional neutrino beam is produced by 400 GeV protons accelerated at the SPS accelerator delivering 700 kW of power. The long baseline provides a unique opportunity to study neutrino flavour oscillations over their 1st and 2nd oscillation maxima exploring the $L/E$ behaviour, and distinguishing effects arising from $delta_{CP}$ and matter. In this paper we show how this comprehensive physics case can be further enhanced and complemented if a neutrino beam produced at the Protvino IHEP accelerator complex, at a distance of 1160 km, and with modest power of 450 kW is aimed towards the same far detectors. We show that the coupling of two independent sub-MW conventional neutrino and antineutrino beams at different baselines from CERN and Protvino will allow to measure CP violation in the leptonic sector at a confidence level of at least $3sigma$ for 50% of the true values of $delta_{CP}$ with a 20 kton detector. With a far detector of 70 kton, the combination allows a $3sigma$ sensitivity for 75% of the true values of $delta_{CP}$ after 10 years of running. Running two independent neutrino beams, each at a power below 1 MW, is more within todays state of the art than the long-term operation of a new single high-energy multi-MW facility, which has several technical challenges and will likely require a learning curve.
This report provides the results of an extensive and important study of the potential for a U.S. scientific program that will extend our knowledge of neutrino oscillations well beyond what can be anticipated from ongoing and planned experiments worldwide. The program examined here has the potential to provide the U.S. particle physics community with world leading experimental capability in this intensely interesting and active field of fundamental research. Furthermore, this capability could be unique compared to anywhere else in the world because of the available beam intensity and baseline distances. The present study was initially commissioned in April 2006 by top research officers of Brookhaven National Laboratory and Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and, as the study evolved, it also provided responses to questions formulated and addressed to the study group by the Neutrino Scientific Advisory Committee (NuSAG) of the U.S. DOE and NSF. The participants in the study, its Charge and history, plus the study results and conclusions are provided in this report and its appendices. A summary of the conclusions is provided in the Executive Summary.