Status and physics potential of the JUNO experiment

TL;DR

JUNO is a large underground liquid scintillator detector in China aiming to determine neutrino mass hierarchy and measure oscillation parameters with high precision, while also exploring solar, terrestrial, and astrophysical neutrinos and proton decay.

Contribution

This paper reviews the status of JUNO's construction and its potential for advancing neutrino physics with unprecedented energy resolution and broad scientific goals.

Findings

JUNO aims to determine neutrino mass hierarchy with 3-4 sigma significance.

It will measure neutrino oscillation parameters with better than 1% accuracy.

The detector's design optimizes light yield and calibration for precise measurements.

Abstract

(On behalf of the JUNO Collaboration) The Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO) is an underground 20 kton liquid scintillator detector being built in the south of China and expected to start data taking in 2020. JUNO has a physics programme focused on neutrino properties using electron anti-neutrinos emitted from two near-by nuclear power plants. Its primary aim is to determine the neutrino mass hierarchy from the ${{\bar{\nu}_e}}$ oscillation pattern. With an unprecedented relative energy resolution of 3$\%$ as target, JUNO will be able to do so with a statistical significance of 3-4 $\sigma$ within six years of running. It will also measure other oscillation parameters to an accuracy better than 1$\%$. An ambitious experimental programme is in place to develop and optimize the detector and the calibration system, to maximize the light yield and minimize energy biases. JUNO will also be in a good position to study neutrinos from the sun and the earth and from supernova explosions, as well as provide a large acceptance for the search for proton decay. JUNO's physics potential was described and the status of its construction reviewed in my talk at the conference.