Overview of the LBNE Neutrino Beam

TL;DR

This paper provides an overview of the LBNE neutrino beam facility, detailing its design, process, and parameters aimed at supporting high-power neutrino experiments at Fermilab.

Contribution

It describes the design and parameters of the LBNE neutrino beamline, integrating physics goals, Monte Carlo modeling, and Fermilab experience.

Findings

Initial beam power expected to be ~700 kW

Facility designed to handle up to 2.3 MW

Parameters based on physics goals and modeling

Abstract

The Long Baseline Neutrino Experiment (LBNE) will utilize a neutrino beamline facility located at Fermilab. The facility is designed to aim a beam of neutrinos toward a detector placed at the Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory (DUSEL) in South Dakota. The neutrinos are produced in a three-step process. First, protons from the Main Injector hit a solid target and produce mesons. Then, the charged mesons are focused by a set of focusing horns into the decay pipe, towards the far detector. Finally, the mesons that enter the decay pipe decay into neutrinos. The parameters of the facility were determined by an amalgam of the physics goals, the Monte Carlo modeling of the facility, and the experience gained by operating the NuMI facility at Fermilab. The initial beam power is expected to be ~700 kW, however some of the parameters were chosen to be able to deal with a beam power of 2.3 MW.