Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Date of Award

1-1-2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.S. in Physics

First Advisor

Gavin S. Davies

Second Advisor

Alakabha Datta

Third Advisor

jake Bennett

School

University of Mississippi

Relational Format

dissertation/thesis

Abstract

In this work, we aim to investigate the effects of matter-induced neutrino oscillations and non-standard interactions (NSIs) in long-baseline neutrino experiments, with a focus on long base line neutrino oscillation experiments, the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) and the Neutrino at Main Injector( NuMI) Off-Axis electron-neutrino Appearance (NOvA) Experiment. Neutrino propagation through matter can be significantly modified by both the standard Mikheyev–Smirnov–Wolfenstein (MSW) effect and possible NSIs, which introduce additional flavor-dependent interactions beyond the Standard Model. We will systematically vary the NSI parameters to study how they enhance or suppress the neutrino oscillation probabilities, particularly for appearance and disappearance channels.

To better understand the interplay between NSIs and the baseline length, we will perform a comparative analysis of DUNE and NOvA, which operate at different baselines of 1295 km and 809 km, respectively. This will allow us to assess how sensitivity to NSI parameters changes with baseline distance and matter effects.

This study will provide valuable preliminary insights into the potential of current and future long-baseline experiments to probe new physics through NSIs and will contribute to the broader effort to understand the true nature of neutrino interactions in matter.

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