DUNE: Status and Perspectives

TL;DR

DUNE is a large-scale neutrino experiment aiming to determine neutrino mass hierarchy and CP violation, with significant potential for discovering new physics and understanding supernova mechanisms, supported by extensive prototyping.

Contribution

This paper details the status and future perspectives of DUNE, highlighting its scientific goals, detector technologies, and the ongoing prototyping efforts at CERN.

Findings

Construction of prototypes in both single and dual phase technologies.

Expected sensitivity to neutrino mass ordering and CP violation.

Potential to explore non-accelerator physics like nucleon decay.

Abstract

The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) provides a rich science program with a focus on neutrino oscillations and other beyond the standard model physics. The high-intensity, wide-band neutrino beam will be produced at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL) and will be directed to the 40~kt liquid argon far detector at the Sanford Underground Research Facility, 1300~km from FNAL. The primary goals of the experiment are to determine the ordering of neutrino masses and to measure the CP violating phase, $\delta_{\textrm{CP}}$. The underground location of the large DUNE far detector and its excellent energy and spatial resolution will allow also for non-accelerator physics programs predicted by grand unified theories, such as nucleon decay or $n$---$\bar{n}$ oscillations. Moreover, DUNE will be sensitive to the electron neutrino flux from a core-collapse supernova, providing valuable information on the phenomenon's underlying mechanisms. This ambitious project requires extensive prototyping and a testing program to guarantee that all parts of the technology are fully understood and well tested. Two such prototypes, in both single phase (ProtoDUNE-SP) and dual phase (ProtoDUNE-DP) technologies, are under construction and will be operated at the CERN Neutrino Platform (NP) starting in 2018.