Two experiments for the price of one? -- The role of the second oscillation maximum in long baseline neutrino experiments

Abstract

We investigate the quantitative impact that data from the second oscillation maximum has on the performance of wide band beam neutrino oscillation experiments. We present results for the physics sensitivities to standard three flavor oscillation, as well as results for the sensitivity to non-standard interactions. The quantitative study is performed using an experimental setup similar to the Fermilab to DUSEL Long Baseline Neutrino Experiment (LBNE). We find that, with the single exception of sensitivity to the mass hierarchy, the second maximum plays only a marginal role due to the experimental difficulties to obtain a statistically significant and sufficiently background-free event sample at low energies. This conclusion is valid for both water Cherenkov and liquid argon detectors. Moreover, we confirm that non-standard neutrino interactions are very hard to distinguish experimentally from standard three-flavor effects and can lead to a considerable loss of sensitivity to θ_{13}, the mass hierarchy and CP violation.

RevTex 4.1, 23 pages, 10 figures; v2: Typos corrected, very minor clarifications; matches published version; v3: Fixed a typo in the first equation in sec. III A

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• Enhancing sensitivity to neutrino parameters at INO combining muon and hadron information
• Sensitivities and synergies of DUNE and T2HK
• Comparison of the calorimetric and kinematic methods of neutrino energy reconstruction in disappearance experiments
• Optimization of neutrino oscillation facilities for large θ_{13}
• Particle Physics at the European Spallation Source
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• Exploring the three flavor effects with future superbeams using liquid argon detectors
• Requirements for a New Detector at the South Pole Receiving an Accelerator Neutrino Beam
• Synergies between neutrino oscillation experiments: An `adequate' configuration for LBNO
• Understanding the performance of the low energy neutrino factory: the dependence on baseline distance and stored-muon energy
• Exploring Flavor-Dependent Long-Range Forces in Long-Baseline Neutrino Oscillation Experiments
• Physics prospects with the second oscillation maximum at Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment