Massive neutrinos reveal physics beyond the Standard Model, which could have
deep consequences for our understanding of the Universe. Their study should
therefore receive the highest level of priority in the European Strategy. The
discovery and study of leptonic CP violation and precision studies of the
transitions between neutrino flavours require high intensity, high precision,
long baseline accelerator neutrino experiments. The community of European
neutrino physicists involved in oscillation experiments is strong enough to
support a major neutrino long baseline project in Europe, and has an ambitious,
competitive and coherent vision to propose. Following the 2006 European
Strategy for Particle Physics (ESPP) recommendations, two complementary design
studies have been carried out: LAGUNA/LBNO, focused on deep underground
detector sites, and EUROnu, focused on high intensity neutrino facilities.
LAGUNA LBNO recommends, as first step, a conventional neutrino beam CN2PY from
a CERN SPS North Area Neutrino Facility (NANF) aimed at the Pyhasalmi mine in
Finland. A sterile neutrino search experiment which could also be situated in
the CERN north area has been proposed (ICARUS-NESSIE) using a two detector
set-up, allowing a definitive answer to the 20 year old question open by the
LSND experiment. EUROnu concluded that a 10 GeV Neutrino Factory, aimed at a
magnetized neutrino detector situated, also, at a baseline of around 2200 km
(+-30%), would constitute the ultimate neutrino facility; it recommends that
the next 5 years be devoted to the R&D, preparatory experiments and
implementation study, in view of a proposal before the next ESPP update. The
coherence and quality of this program calls for the continuation of neutrino
beams at CERN after the CNGS, and for a high priority support from CERN and the
member states to the experiments and R&D program.Comment: Prepared by the program committee of the Neutrino `town meeting',
CERN, 14-16 May 2012 and submitted to the European Strategy For European
Particle Physic