CNGS beam monitor with the LVD detector

TL;DR

This paper evaluates the LVD detector's effectiveness as a CNGS beam monitor, demonstrating it can detect neutrino interactions with high statistical accuracy and minimal background interference.

Contribution

It presents a novel application of the LVD detector for neutrino beam monitoring, highlighting its capability to detect muons from neutrino interactions in rock.

Findings

LVD can detect about 120 muons per day from neutrino interactions.

The detector can achieve 3% statistical error in 7 days.

Cosmic muon background is effectively negligible.

Abstract

The importance of an adequate CNGS beam monitor at the Gran Sasso Laboratory has been stressed in many papers. Since the number of internal $\nu_\mu$ CC and NC interactions in the various detectors will not allow to collect statistics rapidly, one should also be able to detect the $\nu_\mu$ CC interactions in the upstream rock. In this study we have investigated the performances of the LVD detector as a monitor for the CNGS neutrino beam. Thanks to its wide area ($13 \times 11 m^2$ orthogonal to the beam direction) LVD can detect about 120 muons per day originated by $\nu_\mu$ CC interactions in the rock. The LVD total mass is $\sim2 kt$. This allows to get 30 more CNGS events per day as internal $(NC + CC)$ $\nu_\mu$ interactions, for a total of $\sim 150$ events per day. A 3% statistical error can be reached in 7 days. Taking into account the time characteristics of the CNGS beam, the cosmic muon background can be reduced to a negligible level, of the order of 1.5 events per day.