Long baseline neutrino oscillation disappearance search using a $ν$ beam from muon decays

Abstract

We study the feasibility of performing a $ν_μ$ disappearance long-baseline experiment using a neutrino beam coming from muon decays. The advantage of such a technique with respect to the production of neutrino beams from pions is that in a muon decay both muon and electron neutrinos are produced in the same quantity. In case of $ν_μ\toν_{τ,s}$ oscillations, the $ν_e$ charged current (CC) events can be used as a control sample, to predict in situ the $ν_μ$ rates, thus reducing the systematics due to the knowledge of the neutrino flux, which is the main source of uncertainties for disappearance experiments. We consider as our neutrino target, the ICARUS detector in its final mass configuration of 4.8 kton.