Experimental implications of leptonic CP-violation

We discuss the implications of a leptonic CP-violation in neutrino oscillation experiments and the prospects of observing it at a neutrino factory in the context of the standard three neutrino framework. If the large mixing angle MSW effect turned out to account for the solar neutrino deficit, we show that observing an asymmetry between the nu(e) --> nu(mu) and <(nu)over bar>(e) --> <(nu)over bar>(mu) oscillation probabilities would represent an exciting experimental challenge. We determine the portion of the parameter space where an evidence could be found as a function of the intensity of the muon source and of the detector size and efficiency for two different baselines. We address the problems associated with asymmetries induced by the experimental apparatus and by matter effects. Finally, we emphasize that measuring the oscillation probabilities in both the two CP-conjugated channels would help to determine theta(13) precisely. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.