Precision Neutrino Oscillation Measurements using Simultaneous High-Power, Low-Energy Project-X Beams

TL;DR

This paper proposes upgrades to the LBNE10 neutrino experiment using Project X to generate high-intensity, low-energy neutrino beams, enabling precise measurements of neutrino oscillation parameters over ten years.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach of simultaneous high-power, low-energy neutrino beams with a large water Cherenkov detector for improved oscillation measurements.

Findings

Potential to measure sin^2(2θ_13) with reactor-like precision

Ability to determine the CP phase δ_CP with 5-10 degree uncertainty

Enhanced sensitivity to neutrino oscillation parameters over a decade

Abstract

The first phase of the long-baseline neutrino experiment, LBNE10, will use a broadband, high-energy neutrino beam with a 10-kt liquid argon TPC at 1300 km to study neutrino oscillation. In this paper, we describe potential upgrades to LBNE10 that use Project X to produce high-intensity, low-energy neutrino beams. Simultaneous, high-power operation of 8- and 60-GeV beams with a 200-kt water Cerenkov detector would provide sensitivity to nu_mu to nu_e oscillations at the second oscillation maximum. We find that with ten years of data, it would be possible to measure sin2(2theta_13) with precision comparable to that expected from reactor antineutrino disappearance and to measure the value of the CP phase, delta_CP, with an uncertainty of (5-10) degrees. This document is submitted for inclusion in Snowmass 2013.