Evidence for leptonic CP phase from NOν A, T2K and ICAL: a chronological progression

Abstract

We study the synergy between the long-baseline (LBL) experiments NOν A and T2K and the atmospheric neutrino experiment ICAL@INO for obtaining the first hint of CP violation in the lepton sector. We also discuss how precisely the leptonic CP phase (δ_CP) can be measured by these experiments. The CP sensitivity is first described at the level of oscillation probabilities, discussing its dependence on the parameters – θ₁₃, mass hierarchy and θ₂₃. In particular, we discuss how the precise knowledge or lack thereof of these parameters can affect the CP sensitivity of LBL experiments. We follow a staged approach and analyze the δ_CP sensitivity that can be achieved at different points of time over the next 15 years from these LBL experiments alone and/or in conjunction with ICAL@INO. We find that the CP sensitivity of NOν A/T2K is enhanced due to the synergies between the different channels and between the two experiments. On the other hand the lack of knowledge of hierarchy and octant makes the CP sensitivity poorer for some parameter ranges. Addition of ICAL data to T2K and NOν A can exclude these spurious wrong-hierarchy and/or wrong-octant solutions and cause a significant increase in the range of δ_CP values for which a hint of CP violation can be achieved. In fact in parameter regions unfavourable for NOν A/T2K, we may get the first evidence of CP violation by adding the ICAL data to these. Similarly the precision with which δ_CP can be measured also improves with inclusion of ICAL data.