LEvEL: Low-Energy Neutrino Experiment at the LHC

TL;DR

LEvEL is a proposed low-energy neutrino detector near the LHC beam dump designed to measure previously unobserved neutrino cross sections, aiding future neutrino research and expanding understanding of neutrino interactions.

Contribution

This paper introduces LEvEL, a novel neutrino experiment at the LHC, with detailed simulations showing its potential to measure new neutrino cross sections with high precision.

Findings

Potential to measure neutrino-argon cross sections with 5-10% precision

Ability to observe neutrino interactions above 100 GeV in the forward direction

Simulations demonstrate feasible background suppression and signal detection

Abstract

We propose the operation of \textbf{LEvEL}, the Low-Energy Neutrino Experiment at the LHC, a neutrino detector near the Large Hadron Collider Beam Dump. Such a detector is capable of exploring an intense, low-energy neutrino flux and can measure neutrino cross sections that have previously never been observed. These cross sections can inform other future neutrino experiments, such as those aiming to observe neutrinos from supernovae, allowing such measurements to accomplish their fundamental physics goals. We perform detailed simulations to determine neutrino production at the LHC beam dump, as well as neutron and muon backgrounds. Measurements at a few to ten percent precision of neutrino-argon charged current and neutrino-nucleus coherent scattering cross sections are attainable with 100~ton-year and 1~ton-year exposures at LEvEL, respectively, concurrent with the operation of the High Luminosity LHC. We also estimate signal and backgrounds for an experiment exploiting the forward direction of the LHC beam dump, which could measure neutrinos above 100 GeV.