India Based Neutrino Observatory, Physics Reach and Status Report

TL;DR

The paper discusses the India-based Neutrino Observatory's design, simulation results, and its potential to determine neutrino mass ordering independently of the CP phase, advancing neutrino physics research.

Contribution

It provides detailed simulation studies and a status update on the INO project, emphasizing ICAL's sensitivity to neutrino mass ordering.

Findings

ICAL can determine neutrino mass ordering independently of the CP phase.

Simulation results demonstrate the detector's sensitivity to atmospheric neutrino oscillations.

The project is progressing towards operational readiness.

Abstract

The India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) is a proposed underground facility located in India that will primarily house the magnetised Iron CALorimeter (ICAL) detector to study atmospheric neutrinos produced by interactions of cosmic rays with Earth's atmosphere. The physics goal is to to make precision measurements of the neutrino mixing and oscillation parameters through such a study. We present here the results from detailed simulations studies, as well as a status report on the project. In particular, we highlight the sensitivity of ICAL to the open issue of the neutrino mass ordering, which can be determined {\it independent of the CP phase} at ICAL.