arXiv subjects

Sandhya Choubey

Publications and source records attributed to Sandhya Choubey.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2016

A combined study of source, detector and matter non-standard neutrino interactions at DUNE

We simultaneously investigate source, detector and matter non-standard neutrino interactions at the proposed DUNE experiment. Our analysis is performed using a Markov Chain Monte Carlo exploring the full parameter space. We find that the sensitivity of DUNE to the standard oscillation parameters is worsened due to the presence of non-standard neutrino interactions. In particular, there are degenerate solutions in the leptonic mixing angle $θ_{23}$ and the Dirac CP-violating phase $δ$. We also compute the expected sensitivities at DUNE to the non-standard interaction parameters. We find that the sensitivities to the matter non-standard interaction parameters are substantially stronger than the current bounds (up to a factor of about 15). Furthermore, we discuss correlations between the source/detector and matter non-standard interaction parameters and find a degenerate solution in $θ_{23}$. Finally, we explore the effect of statistics on our results.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2016

Atmospheric Neutrinos: Status and Prospects

We present an overview of the current status of neutrino oscillation studies at atmospheric neutrino experiments. While the current data gives some tentalising hints regarding the neutrino mass hierarchy, octant of $θ_{23}$ and $δ_{CP}$, the hints are not statistically significant. We summarise the sensitivity to these sub-dominant three-generation effects from the next-generation proposed atmospheric neutrino experiments. We next present the prospects of new physics searches such as non-standard interactions, sterile neutrinos and CPT violation studies at these experiments.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2015

Exploring Source and Detector Non-Standard Neutrino Interactions at ESS$ν$SB

We investigate source and detector non-standard neutrino interactions at the proposed ESS$ν$SB experiment. We analyze the effect of non-standard physics at the probability level, the event-rate level and by a full computation of the ESS$ν$SB setup. We find that the precision measurement of the leptonic mixing angle $θ_{23}$ at ESS$ν$SB is robust in the presence of non-standard interactions, whereas that of the leptonic CP-violating phase $δ$ is worsened at most by a factor of two. We compute sensitivities to all the relevant source and decector non-standard interaction parameters and find that the sensitivities to the parameters $\varepsilon^s_{μe}$ and $\varepsilon^d_{μe}$ are comparable to the existing limits in a realistic scenario, while they improve by a factor of two in an optimistic scenario. Finally, we show that the absence of a near detector compromises the sensitivity of ESS$ν$SB to non-standard interactions.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2015

Neutrino Physics with Non-Standard Interactions at INO

Non-standard neutrino interactions (NSI) involved in neutrino propagation inside Earth matter could potentially alter atmospheric neutrino fluxes. In this work, we look at the impact of these NSI on the signal at the ICAL detector to be built at the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO). We show how the sensitivity to the neutrino mass hierarchy of ICAL changes in the presence of NSI. The mass hierarchy sensitivity is shown to be rather sensitive to the NSI parameters $ε_{eμ}$ and $ε_{eτ}$, while the dependence on $ε_{μτ}$ and $ε_{ττ}$ is seen to be very mild, once the $χ^2$ is marginalised over oscillation and NSI parameters. If the NSI are large enough, the event spectrum at ICAL is expected to be altered and this can be used to discover new physics. We calculate the lower limit on NSI parameters above which ICAL could discover NSI at a given C.L. from 10 years of data. If NSI were too small, the null signal at ICAL can constrain the NSI parameters. We give upper limits on the NSI parameters at any given C.L. that one is expected to put from 10 years of running of ICAL. Finally, we give C.L. contours in the NSI parameter space that is expected to be still allowed from 10 years of running of the experiment.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2015

Simulation studies of hadron energy resolution as a function of iron plate thickness at INO-ICAL

We report on a detailed simulation study of the hadron energy resolution as a function of the thickness of the absorber plates for the proposed Iron Calorimeter (ICAL) detector at the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO). We compare the hadron resolutions obtained with absorber thicknesses in the range 1.5--8 cm for neutrino interactions in the energy range 2--15 GeV, which is relevant to hadron production in atmospheric neutrino interactions. We find that at lower energies, the thickness dependence of energy resolution is steeper than at higher energies, however there is a thickness-independent contribution that dominates at the lower thicknesses discussed in this work. As a result, the gain in hadron energy resolution with decreasing plate thickness is marginal. We present the results in the form of fits to a function with energy-dependent exponent.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2015

Probing Neutrino Oscillation Parameters using High Power Superbeam from ESS

A high-power neutrino superbeam experiment at the ESS facility has been proposed such that the source-detector distance falls at the second oscillation maximum, giving very good sensitivity towards establishing CP violation. In this work, we explore the comparative physics reach of the experiment in terms of leptonic CP-violation, precision on atmospheric parameters, non-maximal theta23, and its octant for a variety of choices for the baselines. We also vary the neutrino vs. the anti-neutrino running time for the beam, and study its impact on the physics goals of the experiment. We find that for the determination of CP violation, 540 km baseline with 7 years of neutrino and 3 years of anti-neutrino (7nu+3nubar) run-plan performs the best and one expects a 5sigma sensitivity to CP violation for 48% of true values of deltaCP. The projected reach for the 200 km baseline with 7nu+3nubar run-plan is somewhat worse with 5sigma sensitivity for 34% of true values of deltaCP. On the other hand, for the discovery of a non-maximal theta23 and its octant, the 200 km baseline option with 7nu+3nubar run-plan performs significantly better than the other baselines. A 5sigma determination of a non-maximal theta23 can be made if the true value of sin^2theta23 lesssim 0.45 or sin^2theta23 gtrsim 0.57. The octant of theta23 could be resolved at 5sigma if the true value of sin^2theta23 lesssim 0.43 or gtrsim 0.59, irrespective of deltaCP.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2014

Bounds on Non-Standard Neutrino Interactions Using PINGU

We investigate the impact of non-standard neutrino interactions (NSIs) on atmospheric neutrinos using the proposed PINGU experiment. In particular, we focus on the matter NSI parameters $\varepsilon_{μτ}$ and $|\varepsilon_{ττ} - \varepsilon_{μμ}|$ that have previously been constrained by the Super-Kamiokande experiment. First, we present approximate analytical formulas for the difference of the muon neutrino survival probability with and without the above-mentioned NSI parameters. Second, we calculate the atmospheric neutrino events at PINGU in the energy range (2-100) GeV, which follow the trend outlined on probability level. Finally, we perform a statistical analysis of PINGU. Using three years of data, we obtain bounds from PINGU given by $-0.0043~(-0.0048) < \varepsilon_{μτ} < 0.0047~(0.0046)$ and $-0.03~(-0.016) < \varepsilon_{ττ} < 0.017~(0.032)$ at 90 % confidence level for normal (inverted) neutrino mass hierarchy, which improve the Super-Kamiokande bounds by one order of magnitude. In addition, we show the expected allowed contour region in the $\varepsilon_{μτ}$-$\varepsilon_{ττ}$ plane if NSIs exist in Nature and the result suggests that there is basically no correlation between $\varepsilon_{μτ}$ and $\varepsilon_{ττ}$.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2013

Hadron energy response of the Iron Calorimeter detector at the India-based Neutrino Observatory

The results of a Monte Carlo simulation study of the hadron energy response for the magnetized Iron CALorimeter detector, ICAL, proposed to be located at the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) is presented. Using a GEANT4 modeling of the detector ICAL, interactions of atmospheric neutrinos with target nuclei are simulated. The detector response to hadrons propagating through it is investigated using the hadron hit multiplicity in the active detector elements. The detector response to charged pions of fixed energy is studied first, followed by the average response to the hadrons produced in atmospheric neutrino interactions using events simulated with the NUANCE event generator. The shape of the hit distribution is observed to fit the Vavilov distribution, which reduces to a Gaussian at high energies. In terms of the parameters of this distribution, we present the hadron energy resolution as a function of hadron energy, and the calibration of hadron energy as a function of the hit multiplicity. The energy resolution for hadrons is found to be in the range 85% (for 1GeV) -- 36% (for 15 GeV).

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2013

Determining the Octant of $θ_{23}$ with PINGU, T2K, NOvA and Reactor Data

We explore the prospects of determining the octant of $θ_{23}$ with atmospheric neutrinos at PINGU. We study in detail the impact of energy and angle resolutions of the neutrino on the octant sensitivity. We show that the systematic uncertainties on the atmospheric neutrino flux predictions, especially the ones which affect the energy and zenith angle spectrum of the neutrinos, make a rather drastic reduction of the sensitivity of PINGU. We also study the prospects of measuring the octant of $θ_{23}$ in the long baseline experiments T2K and NOvA in conjunction with the reactor experiments. We study this for two configurations of NOvA and T2K and make a comparative analysis of them. From just 3 years of PINGU data, the octant could be determined at more than $3σ$ C.L. for $sin^2θ_{23}<0.419$ and $sin^2θ_{23}>0.586$ if we add the reactor data and if normal hierarchy is true. On addition of the data from T2K and NOvA, the sensitivity improves so that the octant could be determined at the $4σ$ C.L. for $sin^2θ_{23}<0.426$ and $sin^2θ_{23}>0.586$ if normal hierarchy is true. Even a $5σ$ significance for the right octant can be achieved if $sin^2θ_{23}<0.413$ for the true normal hierarchy. The sensitivity for the true inverted hierarchy is lower and we expect a $3σ$ determination of octant for $sin^2θ_{23}<0.43$ and $>0.585$ from the combined data set for this case.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2013

Extended SUSY SU(5) predicting type-III seesaw testable at LHC

We propose an extension of the SUSY SU(5) which predicts LHC testable type-III seesaw. The supersymmetric SU(5) GUT model is extended by adding a 24-plet matter superfield along with a pair of $10_H$-plet and $\bar{10}_H$-plet Higgs superfields. The 24-plet carries a triplet and a singlet fermion multiplet of SU(2)$_L$, which leads to type I+III seesaw. The additional $10_H$ (and $\bar{10}_H$) multiplets help in achieving gauge coupling unification while keeping the triplet fermion mass in the TeV range, making them accessible at LHC. We study the phenomenology of this model in detail. Large lepton flavor violation predicted in this model puts severe constraints on the Yukawa couplings of the triplet fermion. We show that this smothers the possibility of observing the contribution of the heavy fermions in neutrinoless double beta decay experiments. The presence of the additional $10_H$ and $\bar{10}_H$ in this model not only gives gauge coupling unification, it also leads to very large lepton flavor violation.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2013

The Reach of INO for Atmospheric Neutrino Oscillation Parameters

The India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) will host a 50 kt magnetized iron calorimeter (ICAL@INO) for the study of atmospheric neutrinos. Using the detector resolutions and efficiencies obtained by the INO collaboration from a full-detector GEANT4-based simulation, we determine the reach of this experiment for the measurement of the atmospheric neutrino mixing parameters ($\sin^2 θ_{23}$ and $|Δm_{32}^2 |$). We also explore the sensitivity of this experiment to the deviation of $θ_{23}$ from maximal mixing, and its octant.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2013

Measuring the Mass Hierarchy with Muon and Hadron Events in Atmospheric Neutrino Experiments

Neutrino mass hierarchy can be measured in atmospheric neutrino experiments through the observation of earth matter effects. Magnetized iron calorimeters have been shown to be good in this regard due to their charge identification capabilities. The charged current interaction of $ν_μ$ in this detector, produces a muon track and a hadron shower. The direction of the muon track can be measured very accurately. We show the improvement expected in the reach of this class of experiments to the neutrino mass hierarchy, as we improve the muon energy resolution and the muon reconstruction efficiency. We next propose to include the hadron events in the analysis, by tagging them with the zenith angle of the corresponding muon and binning the hadron data first in energy and then in zenith angle. To the best of our knowledge this way of performing the analysis of the atmospheric neutrino data has not be considered before. We show that the hadron events increase the mass hierarchy sensitivity of the experiment. Finally, we show the expected mass hierarchy sensitivity in terms of the reconstructed neutrino energy and zenith angle. We show how the detector resolutions spoil the earth matter effects in the neutrino channel and argue why the sensitivity obtained from the neutrino analysis cannot be significantly better than that obtained from the analysis using muon data alone. As a result, the best mass hierarchy sensitivity is obtained when we add the contribution of the muon and the hadron data. For $\sin^22θ_{13}=0.1$, $\sin^2θ_{23}=0.5$, a muon energy resolution of 2\%, reconstruction efficiency of 80\% and exposure of $50\times 10$ kton-year, we could get up to $4.5σ$ signal for the mass hierarchy from combining the muon and hadron data.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2013

Determining the Neutrino Mass Hierarchy with INO, T2K, NOvA and Reactor Experiments

The relatively large measured value of $θ_{13}$ has opened up the possibility of determining the neutrino mass hierarchy through earth matter effects. Amongst the current accelerator-based experiments only NOvA has a long enough baseline to observe earth matter effects. However, NOvA is plagued with uncertainty on the knowledge of the true value of $δ_{CP}$, and this could drastically reduce its sensitivity to the neutrino mass hierarchy. The earth matter effect on atmospheric neutrinos on the other hand is almost independent of $δ_{CP}$. The 50 kton magnetized Iron CALorimeter at the India-based Neutrino Observatory (ICAL@INO) will be observing atmospheric neutrinos. The charge identification capability of this detector gives it an edge over others for mass hierarchy determination through observation of earth matter effects. We study in detail the neutrino mass hierarchy sensitivity of the data from this experiment simulated using the Nuance based generator developed for ICAL@INO and folded with the detector resolutions and efficiencies obtained by the INO collaboration from a full Geant4-based detector simulation. The data from ICAL@INO is then combined with simulated data from T2K, NOvA, Double Chooz, RENO and Daya Bay experiments and a combined sensitivity study to the mass hierarchy is performed. With 10 years of ICAL@INO data combined with T2K, NOvA and reactor data, one could get about $2.3σ-5.7σ$ discovery of the neutrino mass hierarchy, depending on the true value of $\sin^2θ_{23}$ [0.4 -- 0.6], $\sin^22θ_{13}$ [0.08 -- 0.12] and $δ_{CP}$ [0 -- 2$π$].

hep-ph↗

arXiv2012

Lepton Number and Lepton Flavor Violation through Color Octet States

We discuss neutrinoless double beta decay and lepton flavor violating decays such as $μ-> eγ$ in the colored seesaw scenario. In this mechanism, neutrino masses are generated at one-loop via the exchange of TeV-scale fermionic and scalar color octets. The same particles mediate lepton number and flavor violating processes. We show that within this framework a dominant color octet contribution to neutrinoless double beta decay is possible without being in conflict with constraints from lepton flavor violating processes. We furthermore compare the "direct" color octet contribution to neutrinoless double beta decay with the "indirect" contribution, namely the usual standard light Majorana neutrino exchange. For degenerate color octet fermionic states both contributions are proportional to the usual effective mass, while for non-degenerate octet fermions this feature is not present. Depending on the model parameters, either of the contributions can be dominant.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2012

The next-generation liquid-scintillator neutrino observatory LENA

We propose the liquid-scintillator detector LENA (Low Energy Neutrino Astronomy) as a next-generation neutrino observatory on the scale of 50 kt. The outstanding successes of the Borexino and KamLAND experiments demonstrate the large potential of liquid-scintillator detectors in low-energy neutrino physics. LENA's physics objectives comprise the observation of astrophysical and terrestrial neutrino sources as well as the investigation of neutrino oscillations. In the GeV energy range, the search for proton decay and long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiments complement the low-energy program. Based on the considerable expertise present in European and international research groups, the technical design is sufficiently mature to allow for an early start of detector realization.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2011

On the Observability of Collective Flavor Oscillations in Diffuse Supernova Neutrino Background

Collective flavor oscillations are known to bring multiple splits in the supernova (SN) neutrino and antineutrino spectra. These spectral splits depend not only on the mass hierarchy of the neutrinos but also on the initial relative flux composition. Observation of spectral splits in a future galactic supernova signal is expected to throw light on the mass hierarchy pattern of the neutrinos. However, since the Diffuse Supernova Neutrino Background (DSNB) comprises of a superposition of neutrino fluxes from all past supernovae, and since different supernovae are expected to have slightly different initial fluxes, it is pertinent to check if the hierarchy dependent signature of collective oscillations can survive this averaging of the flux spectra. Since the actual distribution of SN with initial relative flux spectra of the neutrinos and antineutrinos is unknown, we assume a log-normal distribution for them. We study the dependence of the hierarchy sensitivity to the mean and variance of the log-normal distribution function. We find that the hierarchy sensitivity depends crucially on the mean value of the relative initial luminosity. The effect of the width is to reduce the hierarchy sensitivity for all values of the mean initial relative luminosity. We find that in the very small mixing angle ($θ_{13}$) limit considering only statistical errors even for very moderate values of variance, there is almost no detectable hierarchy sensitivity if the mean relative luminosities of $ν_e$ and $\barν_e$ are greater than 1.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2010

Probing Seesaw in an Adjoint SUSY SU(5) Model at LHC

The SU(5) GUT model extended with fermions in the adjoint $24_F$ representation predicts triplet fermions in the 100 GeV mass range, opening up the possibility of testing seesaw at LHC. However, once the model is supersymmerized, the triplet fermion mass is constrained to be close to the GUT scale for the gauge couplings to unify. We propose an extension of the SUSY SU(5) model where type II seesaw can be tested at LHC. In this model we add a matter chiral field in the adjoint $\hat{24}_F$ representation and Higgs chiral superfields in the symmetric $\hat{15}_H$ and $\hat{\bar{15}}_H$ representations. We call this the symmetric adjoint SUSY SU(5) model. The triplet scalar and triplet fermion masses in this model are predicted to be in the 100 GeV and $10^{13}$ GeV range respectively, while the mass of the singlet fermion remains unconstrained. This gives a type I plus type II plus type III seesaw mass term for the neutrinos. The triplet scalars with masses $\sim 100$ GeV range can be produced at the LHC. We briefly discuss the collider phenomenology and predictions for proton decay in this model.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2010

Signatures of collective and matter effects on supernova neutrinos at large detectors

We calculate the expected galactic supernova neutrino signal at large next-generation underground detectors. At different epochs after the explosion, the primary fluxes can be quite different. For these primary neutrino fluxes, spectral splits induced by collective neutrino flavor transformations can arise for either mass hierarchy in both neutrino and antineutrino channels. We classify flux models according to the nature and number of these splits, and calculate the observable electron-neutrino and electron-antineutrino spectra at Earth, taking into account subsequent matter effects. We find that some of the spectral splits could occur sufficiently close to the peak energies to produce significant distortions in the observable SN neutrino signal. The most striking signature of this effect would be presence of peculiar energy dependent modulations associated with Earth matter crossing, present only in portions of the SN neutrino energy spectra demarcated by spectral splits. These signatures at proposed large water Cherenkov, scintillation, and liquid Argon detectors could give hints about the primary SN neutrino fluxes, as well as on the neutrino mass hierarchy and the mixing angle theta_{13}.

hep-ph↗