Study of a New Target Design with an Additional Horn for NuMI Beam

Abstract: This paper describes the simulation studies done for the standard NOvA target and the proposed new minimal NOvA target design, in forward and reverse horn current for studying the neutrino and antineutrino event yield and the background contamination at the near and far detector. The standard NOvA target is segmented into 48 graphite segments (fins) with two magnetic horns, Horn 1 placed at MCZERO and Horn 2 placed at 19.18 m from MCZERO. The new minimal target design has 24 graphite fins extended into Horn 1. It shows the study for the position optimization of the Horn 2 relative to Horn 1 for the standard and the new minimal target design. The effect of introducing an additional horn (identical to Horn 2) with the new minimal target design, on the neutrino yield and the energy spectra, has also been explored.