Upgrade of the T2K near detector ND280: effect on oscillation and cross-section analysis

TL;DR

The paper discusses the upgrade of the T2K near detector ND280 to improve measurement precision, supporting future neutrino oscillation and cross-section analyses amid increased beam intensity and statistics.

Contribution

It presents the design and expected performance of the upgraded ND280 detector, crucial for reducing uncertainties in upcoming high-statistics neutrino experiments.

Findings

Enhanced detector design for better systematic control

Projected reduction of uncertainties below 4%

Preparation for higher-statistics data collection

Abstract

The T2K neutrino oscillation experiment established the $\nu_\mu \rightarrow \nu_e$ appearance with only $10\%$ of the original beam request of $7.8\times10^{21}$ $30$ GeV protons on target (POT). In view of the J-PARC program of upgrades of the beam intensity, the T2K-II proposal for $20\times10^{21}$ POT aimed at establishing CP violation at $3\sigma$ level for a significant fraction of the possible $\delta_{CP}$ values. The Hyper-K proposal consists of a further increase by a factor $10$ of the far detector mass. Facing the potential increase of statistics by two orders of magnitude, it is of great importance to undertake a vigorous program of near detector upgrade, with the aim of reducing the overall statistical and systematic uncertainties at the appropriate level of better than $4\%$. The design and performance of the proposed upgraded near-detector will be reported in these proceedings.