Determining the neutrino mass hierarchy with atmospheric neutrinos

DOI10.1016/J.NUCLPHYSB.2006.01.020MaRDI QIDQ877421zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Authors S. T. Petcov, Thomas Schwetz

Publication date 20 April 2007

Published in Nuclear Physics B (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/hep-ph/0511277

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Nuclear physics (81V35)

Abstract: The possibility to determine the type of neutrino mass hierarchy by studying atmospheric neutrino oscillations with a detector capable to distinguish between neutrino and antineutrino events, such as magnetized iron calorimeters, is considered. We discuss how the ability to distinguish between the neutrino mass spectrum with normal and inverted hierarchy depends on detector characteristics like neutrino energy and direction resolutions or charge miss-identification, and on the systematical uncertainties related to the atmospheric neutrino fluxes. We show also how the neutrino mass hierarchy determination depends on the true values of $het{a}_{13}$ and $het{a}_{23}$, as well as on the type of the true hierarchy. We find that for $mu$-like events, an accurate reconstruction of the energy and direction of the neutrino greatly improves the sensitivity to the type of neutrino mass spectrum. For $si{n}^{2}2het{a}_{13}cong0.1$ and a precision of 5% in the reconstruction of the neutrino energy and $5^{c}irc$ in the neutrino direction, the type of neutrino mass hierarchy can be identified at the 2$sigma$ C.L. with approximately 200 events. For resolutions of 15% for the neutrino energy and $15^{c}irc$ for the neutrino direction roughly one order of magnitude larger event numbers are required. For a detector capable to distinguish between $u_e$ and $$ induced events the requirements on energy and direction resolutions are, in general, less demanding than for a detector with muon charge identification.

Recommendations

• Mass hierarchy determination for \(\theta _{13}=0\) and atmospheric neutrinos
• Matter vs vacuum oscillations in atmospheric neutrinos
• Phenomenology of neutrino mixing in vacuum and matter
• Neutrino mass hierarchy and CP violation in long baseline neutrino experiment
• Nuances of neutrinos

Cites work

• Remarks on the Unified Model of Elementary Particles

Cited in

(6)

• A quantum information theoretic quantity sensitive to the neutrino mass-hierarchy
• Theory prospective on leptonic CP violation
• Matter vs vacuum oscillations in atmospheric neutrinos
• Sizeable \(\theta_{13}\) from the charged lepton sector in \(\mathrm{SU}(5)\), (tri-)bimaximal neutrino mixing and Dirac CP violation
• Mass hierarchy determination for \(\theta _{13}=0\) and atmospheric neutrinos
• Trapped ionic simulation of neutrino electromagnetic properties in neutrino oscillation

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