The NOνA (NuMI Off-Axis νe Appearance) experiment
The NOνA (NuMI Off-Axis νe Appearance) experiment is a particle physics experiment designed to detect neutrinos in Fermilab's NuMI (Neutrinos at the Main Injector) beam. Intended to be the successor to MINOS, NOνA consists of two detectors, one at Fermilab (the near detector), and one in northern Minnesota (the far detector). Neutrinos from NuMI pass through 810 km of Earth to reach the far detector. NOνA's main goal is to observe the oscillation of muon neutrinos to electron neutrinos. The primary physics goals of NOvA are:[1]
- Precise measurement, for neutrinos and antineutrinos, of the mixing angle θ23, especially whether it is larger than, smaller than, or equal to 45°
- Precise measurement, for neutrinos and antineutrinos, of the associated mass splitting Δm232
- Strong constraints on the CP-violating phase δ
- Strong constraints on the neutrino mass hierarchy
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