Aiden Reynolds (Oxford)

ProtoDUNE-SP: prototyping the next generation of neutrino detectors

Abstract: The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) will utilise the liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) technology to make measurements of the CP violating phase, mass hierarchy, and other neutrino oscillation parameters. Some of the major challenges involved in the DUNE experiment include understanding the details of neutrino interactions in argon, developing reconstruction software capable of efficiently and accurately reconstructing LArTPC data, and scaling the LArTPC technology to the 10kt scale. To answer these questions a significant programme of LArTPC research is ongoing with a number of active experiments using the technology. With 1kt of liquid argon ProtoDUNE-SP is the largest single phase LArTPC to date, and it has been designed to be as close as possible to the design of the DUNE far detector modules. By reconstructing the charged particle beam data collected by ProtoDUNE-SP in the summer of 2018, as well as a huge amount of cosmic ray data, ProtoDUNE-SP will allow for crucial developments in our understanding for the final DUNE detectors.