Baseline and other effects for a sterile neutrino at DUNE

TL;DR

This paper evaluates DUNE's sensitivity to sterile neutrinos, emphasizing the importance of production point information and detailed oscillation modeling, which influence the experiment's exclusion reach.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive analysis of effects like production point and density profiles on DUNE's sterile neutrino sensitivity, highlighting their impact on exclusion limits.

Findings

Production point information affects sterile neutrino exclusion reach.

Exact oscillation formulas with density profiles show negligible impact.

Energy bin-to-bin systematics do not significantly alter results.

Abstract

We analyze the sensitivity of the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) to a sterile neutrino, combining information from both near and far detectors. We quantify often-neglected effects which may impact the event rate estimation in a 3+1 oscillation scenario. In particular, we find that taking into account the information on the neutrino production point, in contrast to assuming a pointlike neutrino source, affects DUNE's sterile exclusion reach. Visible differences remain after the inclusion of energy bin-to-bin uncorrelated systematics. Instead, implementing exact oscillation formulae for near detector events, including a two slab density profile, does not result in any visible change in the sensitivity.