Description
Hyper-Kamiokande is a next-generation underground water Cherenkov detector that will deliver world-leading sensitivity to leptonic CP violation and the neutrino mass ordering, alongside searches for proton decay and studies of atmospheric, solar and astrophysical neutrinos. We present an overview of the physics programme and the Australian contribution to the analysis and calibration work that will realise it. Reaching the required precision means simulating far larger samples of events than previous experiments, but the standard reconstruction methods are too slow to process them at that scale. We describe a machine-learning approach that reconstructs events much faster, identifying the particle type and recovering its energy and direction from the pattern of light recorded across the detector's photosensors. We also report on a method to calibrate those photosensors in place, using a set of pre-measured reference tubes to map how each one responds across its surface. Because the sensitivity to CP violation depends on knowing the photosensor response accurately, this calibration feeds directly into the reconstruction. We present results obtained to date and outline the implications for Hyper-Kamiokande's physics reach and the role of the Australian groups in this programme.
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