On $\theta_{23}$ Octant Measurement in $3+1$ Neutrino Oscillations in T2HKK

Abstract

It has been pointed out that the mixing of an eV-scale sterile neutrino with active flavors can lead to loss of sensitivity to the $\theta_{23}$ octant (sign of $\sin^2\theta_{23}-1/2$) in long baseline experiments, because the main oscillation probability $P_0=4\sin^2\theta_{23}\sin^2\theta_{13}\sin^2\Delta_{31}$ can be degenerate with the sum of the interferences with the solar oscillation amplitude and an active-sterile oscillation amplitude in both neutrino and antineutrino oscillations, depending on CP phases. In this paper, we show that the above degeneracy is resolved by measuring the same beam at different baseline lengths. We demonstrate that Tokai-to-Hyper-Kamiokande-to-Korea (T2HKK) experiment (one 187~kton fiducial volume water Cerenkov detector is placed at Kamioka, $L=295$~km, and another detector is put in Korea, $L\sim1000$~km) exhibits a better sensitivity to the $\theta_{23}$ octant in those parameter regions where the experiment with two detectors at Kamioka is insensitive to it. Therefore, if a hint of sterile-active mixings is discovered in short baseline experiments, T2HKK is a better option than the plan of placing two detectors at Kamioka. We also consider an alternative case where one detector is placed at Kamioka and a different detector is at Oki Islands, $L=653$~km, and show that this configuration also leads to a better sensitivity to the $\theta_{23}$ octant.