Improving sensitivity of neutrino oscillation detection in the DUNE experiment

• Grant number: 24/03443-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: March 01, 2025
• End date: February 29, 2028
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Physics - Elementary Particle Physics and Fields
• Principal Investigator: Ettore Segreto
• Grantee: Luís Gustavo Porto Paixão
• Host Institution: Instituto de Física Gleb Wataghin (IFGW). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 21/13757-9 - Photon detection system of the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, AP.TEM

Abstract

A crucial current interest in the study of neutrino physics is to comprehend the characteristics of these fundamental particles, revealing the process of flavor oscillation between their production and detection. Apart from investigating natural sources, experiments involving the production of neutrino beams, with detectors placed near the neutrino source and at distant locations after they have traveled extensive distances, constitute fundamental studies in pursuit of this information.In this doctoral project, we will investigate how the detection of neutrinos in liquid argon time projection chambers (LArTPCs) can provide results in their oscillation characteristics and the intrinsic properties of particle interaction and detection within this environment. Specifically, we will assess the impact that combining charge signals obtained from the TPC and light signals from the photon detection system in the Far Detector of the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) will have on the proposed precision measurements in this experiment. The primary aim is to establish a deeper understanding of significant phenomena such as Charge-Parity Violation (CPV) and Neutrino Mass Ordering (MO) that could elucidate the reasons behind the matter/antimatter asymmetry in the Universe.A preliminary analysis of the impact of the combination of charge and light signals on the oscillation physics proposed in DUNE was carried out during the candidate's master's project. We verified that this combined analysis has the potential to improve the sensitivity for determining the CPV and MO parameters in the experiment. We propose an improvement in the techniques used to obtain previous results, using the new production of Monte Carlo events from the DUNE experiment combined with a statistical analysis using the Mach3 method. We will also dedicate time to working with the experiment's prototype, ProtoDUNE, the largest LArTPC currently in operation, located at CERN. In addition to working on data collection that will begin in 2024, we will develop calorimetry analyses with the combined charge and light signals in this experiment, complementing the proposal for analysis on the DUNE distant detector with data from ProtoDUNE.