XXth International Conference on Neutrino Physics and Astrophysics
A.Geiser & B.Kahle (DESY, Hamburg, Germany)
Earth Tomography with Atmospheric Neutrinos
Atmospheric neutrinos cross the Earth from all directions. The
dominant nu_mu-nu_tau oscillations yield a well-defined nu_mu
disappearance pattern. Due to interactions with matter, subdominant
nu_mu-nu_e oscillations can get amplified and modify this oscillation
pattern in a characteristic way. This allows the measurement of the
electron density of the matter crossed. From a combination with
classical density measurements, information on the chemical
composition can be obtained. Here, we study the applicability of this
method to investigate the composition of the Earth mantle. It is
demonstrated that separation of the neutrino and antineutrino
component is necessary and that measurements at different baselines
are essential. A realistic measurement procedure is developed in which
the correlations between the density determination and the details of
the oscillation parameters are minimized. A MONOLITH-type magnetized
tracking calorimeter can be used to detect the (anti-)neutrinos with
the required path length and energy resolution. However, extremely
large data sets and oscillation parameters close to the Chooz limit
are needed to obtain significant results. Quantitative simulation
results are presented. Their feasability is evaluated and compared to
an approach using several very long baseline neutrino beams.
Based on a paper in preparation