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arXiv · 1907.04331

Target Neutrino Mass Precision for Determining the Neutrino Hierarchy

Constance Mahony·Boris Leistedt·Hiranya V. Peiris·Jonathan Braden·Benjamin Joachimi·Andreas Korn·Linda Cremonesi·Ryan Nichol
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Abstract

Recent works combining neutrino oscillation and cosmological data to determine the neutrino hierarchy found a range of odds in favour of the normal hierarchy. These results arise from differing approaches to incorporating prior knowledge about neutrinos. We develop a hierarchy-agnostic prior and show that the hierarchy cannot be conclusively determined with current data. The determination of the hierarchy is limited by the neutrino mass scale $\Sigma_{\nu}$ measurement. We obtain a target precision of $\sigma(\Sigma_{\nu}) = 0.014$ eV, necessary for conclusively establishing the normal hierarchy with future data.

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Constance Mahony, Boris Leistedt, Hiranya V. Peiris, Jonathan Braden, Benjamin Joachimi, Andreas Korn, Linda Cremonesi, Ryan Nichol. 2019-07-09. Target Neutrino Mass Precision for Determining the Neutrino Hierarchy. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.101.083513

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