Given L and E, what is the minimum Δm2 that can be probed?
P(osc)=sin22θ*sin2(1.27*Δm2[eV2]*L[km]/E[GeV])
Sensitivity is maximum when P is maximum. Given sin22θ, P is maximum when the phase of the other sine is π/2, 3π/2, etc., i.e. (2n+1)π/2 with n=0,1,...
Phase is proportional to Δm2, so we look for the minimum of the phase in this ensemble, i.e. π/2.
So, the formula for Δm2 sensitivity (given θ) is (π*E)/(2*1.27*L).
Given a certain mass of the detector, a certain time (e.g. 1 year) and a certain contamination of the beam (e.g., 0.5% of νe in a beam of νμ), what is the minimum sin22θ that can be probed?
If you take the phase = (2n+1)π/2 for the other sine (as above), this is equivalent to the minimum P.
The number of interactions (Nint) is σ(νN)*Φ(ν)[m-2y-1]*Δt*Nnucleons.
Nnucleons=M(detector)/m(nucleon).
Signal: S=P*Nint=sin22θ*Nint.
Background: B=f*Nint, where f is the fraction of contamination in the beam.
Significance: S/√(B)=(P/f)*√Nint, proportional to √M(detector)
(Note: another background comes from π0's from NC interactions. It can be reduced through a good angular resolution, discriminating electrons against pairs of photons.)
If background is negligible, what is the sensitivity of the experiment to sin22θ?
As in the case above, this is equivalent to the minimum P. And the strongest limit comes from 0 events observed, so let's assume Nobs.
First, calculate the number of interactions expected in absence of oscillation.
S=P*Nint
Assume Poisson statistics: P(0,S)=e-S
i.e. S=-log[P(0,S)]>-log(1-CL)
e.g. CL=95% (1-CL=0.05) means S>3
So the minimum P (and then the sensitivity to sin22θ) is 3/Nint.