Exploring neutrino parameters with a beta-beam experiment from FNAL to DUSEL

We discuss in detail the physics reach of an experimental set-up where electron neutrinos (anti-neutrinos) produced in a beta-beam facility at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL) are sent, over a distance of L≃1300km, to the Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory (DUSEL). A 300kt Water Cherenkov (WC) detector and a 50kt Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber (LArTPC) are considered as possible detector choices. We propose to use 18Ne and 6He as source ions for νe and ν¯e beams respectively. The maximum Lorentz boost factor, γ, available for these ions using the Tevatron are γNe=585 and γHe=350. This particular set-up provides the opportunity to probe the first oscillation maximum using νe beam and the second oscillation maximum using the ν¯e beam which helps to evade some parameter degeneracies. The resulting physics sensitivities for θ13, CP violation and the mass hierarchy are compared to those of a conventional superbeam from FNAL to DUSEL.