Constraints on the Solar $\Delta m^2$ using Daya Bay & RENO

Abstract

We demonstrate that the currently running short baseline reactor experiments, especially Daya Bay, can put a significant upper bound on $\Delta m_{21}^2$. This novel approach to determining $\Delta m_{21}^2$ can be performed with the current data of both Daya Bay \& RENO and provides additional information on $\Delta m_{21}^2$ in a different $L/E$ range ($\sim$ 0.5 km/MeV) for an important consistency check on the 3 flavor massive neutrino paradigm. Upper limits by Daya Bay and RENO and a possible lower limit from Daya Bay, before the end of 2020, will be the only new information on this important quantity until the medium baseline reactor experiment, JUNO, gives a very precise measurement in the middle of the next decade. In this study ${\theta }_{12}$ value is fixed since its impact on the $\Delta m_{21}^2$ measurement is relatively small as discussed in the Appendix.

Comments: 6 pages, 2 figures, 1 table. Accepted version in PRD