Terrestrial Matter Effects on Reactor Antineutrino Oscillations: Constant vs. Fluctuated Density Profiles

Abstract

The JUNO Collaboration has recently released its first reactor antineutrino oscillation result, achieving unprecedented precision in the measurement of $\Delta m^2_{21}$ and $\sin^2\theta_{12}$. We emphasize that the accurate determination and modeling of the terrestrial matter density profile are fundamental for extracting the oscillation parameters and probing the neutrino mass ordering. This paper presents a realistic piecewise-constant model for the shallow crustal density profile along the baselines from Taishan and Yangjiang to the experimental hall, based on geological and petrophysical information. The uncertainty in the density profiles arises from variations in the density and length of each segment, both of which are conservatively estimated to be 10%. A careful comparison of constant and fluctuated density profiles is provided and the implications for the precision measurement of oscillation parameters are discussed. Finally, we also discuss the prospect of shallow crust tomography in future reactor neutrino experiments.