Towards First Detection of the Solar MSW Transition With JUNO
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
2026-02-02 v2 High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
High Energy Physics - Experiment
Nuclear Experiment
Nuclear Theory
Abstract
Matter-induced neutrino flavor mixing (the Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein, or MSW, effect) is a central prediction of the neutrino mixing framework, but it has not been conclusively observed. Direct observation of the energy-dependent MSW transition in the solar electron-neutrino survival probability would solve this, but backgrounds have been prohibitive. We show that our new technique for suppressing muon-induced spallation backgrounds will allow JUNO to measure the MSW transition at 4 significance in 10 years. This would strongly support upcoming multi-$1B next-generation long-baseline experiments and their goals in cementing the neutrino mixing framework.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2512.14824,
title = {Towards First Detection of the Solar MSW Transition With JUNO},
author = {Obada Nairat and John F. Beacom and Kevin J. Kelly and Shirley Weishi Li},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2512.14824},
year = {2026}
}
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