The Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO) is a multi-purpose neutrino experiment in South China, currently in the final stage of construction. It is located in an underground laboratory with approximately 650 m of rock overburden (1800 m.w.e.). The detector consists of a 20 kton liquid scintillator target, contained inside a 35.4-meter-diameter spherical acrylic vessel. The central detector (CD) is equipped with 17,612 20-inch and 25,600 3-inch Photomultipliers Tubes (PMTs), providing more than 75% total photocathode coverage.
JUNO's main goal is the determination of the neutrino mass ordering with reactor antineutrinos, emitted from two adjacent nuclear power plants on a ∼ 52.5 km baseline from the experimental site. JUNO's strategic location at a baseline corresponding to the first solar oscillation maximum, where the kinematic phase Δ21≃π2, grants it the unique capability to simultaneously probe the effects of oscillations on both solar and atmospheric scales; moreover, it stands out as the first experiment to address the unresolved NMO question through vacuum-dominated oscillations and to simultaneously probe the effects of slow (Δm221) and fast (Δm231) oscillations.
Furthermore, the unparalleled size and energy resolution will enable to achieve a sub-percent precision on three parameters: Δm221, Δm231, and sin2θ12. JUNO will also have the capability to detect neutrinos generated by cosmic-ray showers interacting in the Earth's atmosphere. Atmospheric neutrinos offer a complementary sensitivity to the NMO, independent of reactor antineutrinos.
This contribution will focus on JUNO's oscillation physics potential, with a particular emphasis on the reactor antineutrino analysis.
