The Hyper-Kamiokande Experiment: Overview & Status

Abstract

The Hyper-Kamiokande (HK) experiment centres around a proposed next-generation underground water Cherenkov detector that will be nearly 20 times larger than the highly successful Super-Kamiokande experiment and use significantly improved photodetectors with the same 40% photocoverage. HK will increase existing sensitivity to proton decay by an order of magnitude, and it will study neutrinos from various sources, including atmospheric neutrinos, solar neutrinos, and supernova neutrinos. In addition to operating as a standalone experiment, HK will serve as the far detector of a long-baseline neutrino experiment using the upgraded J-PARC neutrino beam, enhancing searches for lepton-sector CP violation. This contribution to the NuPhys2016 proceedings presents recent developments and the current status of the experiment. It discusses ongoing photosensor R&D efforts and the expected physics reach in the area of supernova neutrinos as showcased in the recently published design report. Other physics topics, including neutrino oscillations and nucleon decay, are discussed in a separate contribution to these proceedings.