Probing the neutrino mass ordering with KM3NeT-ORCA: Analysis and perspectives

• Main Authors: Capozzi, Francesco, Lisi, Eligio, Marrone, Antonio
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: arXiv 2017
• Subjects: High Energy Physics - Phenomenology hep-ph; High Energy Physics - Experiment hep-ex; FOS Physical sciences; Pingu; Orca
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1708.03022; https://arxiv.org/abs/1708.03022

The discrimination of the two possible options for the neutrino mass ordering (normal or inverted) is a major goal for current and future neutrino oscillation experiments. Such goal might be reached by observing high-statistics energy-angle spectra of events induced by atmospheric neutrinos and antineutrinos propagating in the Earth matter. Large volume water-Cherenkov detectors envisaged to this purpose include the so-called KM3NeT-ORCA project (in seawater) and the IceCube-PINGU project (in ice). Building upon a previous work focused on PINGU, we study in detail the effects of various systematic uncertainties on the ORCA sensitivity to the mass ordering, for the reference configuration with 9 m vertical spacing. We point out the need to control spectral shape uncertainties at the percent level, the effects of better priors on the theta-23 mixing parameter, and the benefits of an improved flavor identification in reconstructed ORCA events. : 15 pages, including 7 figures. A few paragraphs and references added. Invited contribution to appear in the JPG Focus Issue on "Neutrino Mass and Mass Ordering"