KM3NeT/ORCA status and plans

Abstract

Neutrinos created in interactions of cosmic rays with the atmosphere can serve as a powerful tool to unveil the neutrino mass hierarchy (NMH). At low energies, around a few GeV, matter effects from the transition through the Earth are expected to imprint a distinct but also subtle signature on the oscillation pattern, specific to the ordering of the neutrino masses. KM3NeT/ORCA (Oscillations Research with Cosmics in the Abyss), a densely instrumented building block of the upcoming KM3NeT neutrino telescope, will be designated to measuring this signature in the Mediterranean Sea. Using detailed simulations the sensitivity towards this signature has been evaluated. The multi-PMT detectors allow in the water for an accurate reconstruction of GeV neutrino event signatures and distinction of neutrino flavours. For the determination of the mass hierarchy a median significance of 2-6σ has been estimated for three years of data taking, depending on the actual hierarchy and the oscillation parameters. At the same time the values of several oscillation parameters like θ23 will be determined to unprecedented precision.