Beta Beams

Beta Beams could address the needs of long term neutrino oscillation experiments. They can produce extremely pure neutrino beams through the decays of relativistic radioactive ions. The baseline scenario is described, together with its physics performances. Using a megaton water Cerenkov detector installed under the Frejus, Beta Beams could improve by a factor 200 the present limits on \sin^2{2 \thetaot} and discover leptonic CP violating effects if the CP phase delta would be greater than 30 degree and theta13 greater than 1 degree. These performances can be further improved if a neutrino SuperBeam generated by the SPL 4MW, 2.2 GeV, proton Linac would be fired to the same detector. Innovative ideas on higher and lower energy Beta Beams are also described.Comment: To appear in the proceedings of 21st International Conference on Neutrino Physics and Astrophysics (Neutrino 2004), Paris, France, 14-19 Jun 200

Beta-Beams: present design and expected performances

We give the present status of the beta-beam study, which aims at producing intense nue and antinue beams from the decay of relativistic radioactive io ns. The emphasis is put on recent technical progress and new ideas. The expected performances in terms of neutrino mixing parameters theta13 and CP violating phase delta using a megaton water Cerenkov detector installed in the Frejus underground laboratory are shown to be excellent, and the synergy with a a companion SuperBeam is underlined.Comment: Contributed paper at Nufact 03, New York, US

Physics and optimization of beta-beams: From low to very high gamma

The physics potential of beta beams is investigated from low to very high gamma values and it is compared to superbeams and neutrino factories. The gamma factor and the baseline are treated as continuous variables in the optimization of the beta beam, while a fixed mass water Cherenkov detector or a totally active scintillator detector is assumed. We include in our discussion also the gamma dependence of the number of ion decays per year. For low gamma, we find that a beta beam could be a very interesting alternative to a superbeam upgrade, especially if it is operated at the second oscillation maximum to reduce correlations and degeneracies. For high gamma, we find that a beta beam could have a potential similar to a neutrino factory. In all cases, the sensitivity of the beta beams to CP violation is very impressive if similar neutrino and anti-neutrino event rates can be achieved.Comment: 34 pages, 16 figures, Fig. 2 modified, discussion improved, refs. added, version to appear in PR

Future neutrino oscillation facilities

The recent discovery that neutrinos have masses opens a wide new field of experimentation. Accelerator-made neutrinos are essential in this program. Ideas for future facilities include high intensity muon neutrino beams from pion decay (`SuperBeam'), electron neutrino beams from nuclei decays (`Beta Beam'), or muon and electron neutrino beams from muon decay (`Neutrino Factory'), each associated with one or several options for detector systems. Each option offers synergetic possibilities, e.g. some of the detectors can be used for proton decay searches, while the Neutrino Factory is a first step towards muon colliders. A summary of the perceived virtues and shortcomings of the various options, and a number of open questions are presented.Comment: Originally written for the CERN Strategy Grou

Degeneracies at a beta-Beam and a Super-Beam Facility

The presence of degeneracies can considerably worsen the measure of the neutrino oscillation parameters $\theta_{13}$ and $\delta$. We study the physics reach of a specific ``CERN'' setup, using a standard $\beta$-Beam and Super-Beam facility. These facilities have a similar sensitivity in both parameters. Their combination does not provide any dramatic improvement as expected due to their almost identical L/E ratio. We analyse if adding the correspondent disappearance channels can help in reducing the effect of degeneracies in the $(\theta_{13},\delta)$ measure.Comment: 5 pages, 7 eps figure

Neutrino-Nucleus Cross Section Measurements using Stopped Pions and Low Energy Beta Beams

Two new facilities have recently been proposed to measure low energy neutrino-nucleus cross sections, the nu-SNS (Spallation Neutron Source) and low energy beta beams. The former produces neutrinos by pion decay at rest, while the latter produces neutrinos from the beta decays of accelerated ions. One of the uses of neutrino-nucleus cross section measurements is for supernova studies, where typical neutrino energies are 10s of MeV. In this energy range there are many different components to the nuclear response and this makes the theoretical interpretation of the results of such an experiment complex. Although even one measurement on a heavy nucleus such as lead is much anticipated, more than one data set would be still better. We suggest that this can be done by breaking the electron spectrum down into the parts produced in coincidence with one or two neutrons, running a beta beam at more than one energy, comparing the spectra produced with pions and a beta beam or any combination of these.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure