Degeneracy Resolution Capabilities of NOνA and DUNE in the Presence of Light Sterile Neutrino

Abstract

We investigate the implications of a sterile neutrino on the physics potential of the proposed experiment DUNE and future runs of NO $\nu$A using latest NO $\nu$A results. Using combined analysis of the disappearance and appearance data, NO $\nu$A reported preferred solutions at normal hierarchy (NH) with two degenerate best-fit points: one in the lower octant (LO) and ${\delta }_{\mathrm{13}}$ = 1.48 $\pi$ and the other in higher octant (HO) and ${\delta }_{\mathrm{13}}$ = 0.74 $\pi$. Another solution of inverted hierarchy (IH), which is 0.46 $\sigma$ away from best fit, was also reported. We discuss chances of resolving these degeneracies in the presence of sterile neutrino.