NOvA Proposal to Build a 30 Kiloton Off-Axis Detector to Study Neutrino Oscillations in the Fermilab NuMI Beamline

TL;DR

The NOvA proposal outlines a 30-kiloton off-axis detector designed to study neutrino oscillations using the Fermilab NuMI beamline, aiming to improve sensitivity to key oscillation parameters.

Contribution

This updated proposal introduces a large liquid scintillator detector with enhanced capabilities for neutrino oscillation measurements at Fermilab.

Findings

Increased sensitivity to sin^2(2θ_13) and related parameters.

Design features include a 30 kt tracking calorimeter with liquid scintillator cells.

Utilizes improved photodetection technology for better data collection.

Abstract

This is an updated version of the NOvA proposal. The detector is a 30 kiloton tracking calorimeter, 15.7 m by 15.7 m by 132 m long, with alternating horizontal and vertical rectangular cells of liquid scintillator contained in PVC extrusion modules. Light from each 15.7 m long cell of liquid scintillator filled PVC is collected by a wavelength shifting fiber and routed to an avalanche photodiode pixel. The reach of NOvA for sin^2(2_theta_13) and related topics is increased relative to earlier versions of the proposal with the assumption of increased protons available from the Fermilab Main Injector following the end of Tevatron Collider operations in 2009.