110 research outputs found
Cosmic Strings as Emitters of Extremely High Energy Neutrinos
We study massive particle radiation from cosmic string kinks, and its
observability in extremely high energy neutrinos. In particular, we consider
the emission of moduli --- weakly coupled scalar particles predicted in
supersymmetric theories --- from the kinks of cosmic string loops. Since kinks
move at the speed of light on strings, moduli are emitted with large Lorentz
factors, and eventually decay into many pions and neutrinos via hadronic
cascades. The produced neutrino flux has energy ,
and is affected by oscillations and absorption (resonant and non-resonant). It
is observable at upcoming neutrino telescopes such as JEM-EUSO, and the radio
telescopes LOFAR and SKA, for a range of values of the string tension, and of
the mass and coupling constant of the moduli.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figure
Probing the neutrino mass hierarchy and the 13-mixing with supernovae
We consider in details the effects of the 13-mixing (sin^2 theta_{13}) and of
the type of mass hierarchy/ordering (sign[ Delta m^2_{13}]) on neutrino signals
from the gravitational collapses of stars. The observables (characteristics of
the energy spectra of nu_e and antinu_e events) sensitive to sin^2 theta_{13}
and sign[Delta m^2_{13}] have been calculated. They include the ratio of
average energies of the spectra, r_E = /, the ratio of widths of
the energy distributions, r_Gamma, the ratios of total numbers of nu_e and
antinu_e events at low energies, S, and in the high energy tails, R_{tail}. We
construct and analyze scatter plots which show the predictions for the
observables for different intervals of sin^2 theta_{13} and signs of Delta
m^2_{13}, taking into account uncertainties in the original neutrino spectra,
the star density profile, etc.. Regions in the space of observables r_E,
r_Gamma, S, R_{tail} exist in which certain mass hierarchy and intervals of
sin^2 theta_{13} can be identified or discriminated. We elaborate on the method
of the high energy tails in the spectra of events. The conditions are
formulated for which sin^2 theta_{13} can be (i) measured, (ii) restricted from
below, (iii) restricted from above. We comment on the possibility to determine
sin^2 theta_{13} using the time dependence of the signals due to the
propagation of the shock wave through the resonance layers of the star. We show
that the appearance of the delayed Earth matter effect in one of the channels
(nu_e or antinu_e) in combination with the undelayed effect in the other
channel will allow to identify the shock wave appeareance and determine the
mass hierarchy.Comment: LaTeX, 56 pages, 12 figures; a few clarifications added; typos
corrected. Version to appear in JCA
Detecting the Neutrino Mass Hierarchy with a Supernova at IceCube
IceCube, a future km^3 antarctic ice Cherenkov neutrino telescope, is highly
sensitive to a galactic supernova (SN) neutrino burst. The Cherenkov light
corresponding to the total energy deposited by the SN neutrinos in the ice can
be measured relative to background fluctuations with a statistical precision
much better than 1%. If the SN is viewed through the Earth, the matter effect
on neutrino oscillations can change the signal by more than 5%, depending on
the flavor-dependent source spectra and the neutrino mixing parameters.
Therefore, IceCube together with another high-statistics experiment like
Hyper-Kamiokande can detect the Earth effect, an observation that would
identify specific neutrino mixing scenarios that are difficult to pin down with
long-baseline experiments. In particular, the normal mass hierarchy can be
clearly detected if the third mixing angle is not too small, sin^2 theta_13 <
10^-3. The small flavor-dependent differences of the SN neutrino fluxes and
spectra that are found in state-of-the-art simulations suffice for this
purpose. Although the absolute calibration uncertainty at IceCube may exceed
5%, the Earth effect would typically vary by a large amount over the duration
of the SN signal, obviating the need for a precise calibration. Therefore,
IceCube with its unique geographic location and expected longevity can play a
decisive role as a "co-detector" to measure SN neutrino oscillations. It is
also a powerful stand-alone SN detector that can verify the delayed-explosion
scenario.Comment: 19 pages, 6 Figs, final version accepted by JCAP, some references
adde
Supernova Neutrinos, Neutrino Oscillations, and the Mass of the Progenitor Star
We investigate the initial progenitor mass dependence of the early-phase
neutrino signal from supernovae taking neutrino oscillations into account. The
early-phase analysis has advantages in that it is not affected by the time
evolution of the density structure of the star due to shock propagation or
whether the remnant is a neutron star or a black hole. The initial mass affects
the evolution of the massive star and its presupernova structure, which is
important for two reasons when considering the neutrino signal. First, the
density profile of the mantle affects the dynamics of neutrino oscillation in
supernova. Second, the final iron core structure determines the features of the
neutrino burst, i.e., the luminosity and the average energy. We find that both
effects are rather small. This is desirable when we try to extract information
on neutrino parameters from future supernova-neutrino observations. Although
the uncertainty due to the progenitor mass is not small for intermediate
(), we
can, nevertheless, determine the character of the mass hierarchy and whether
is very large or very small.Comment: 8 pages, 15 figure
Supernova pointing with low- and high-energy neutrino detectors
A future galactic SN can be located several hours before the optical
explosion through the MeV-neutrino burst, exploiting the directionality of
--scattering in a water Cherenkov detector such as Super-Kamiokande. We
study the statistical efficiency of different methods for extracting the SN
direction and identify a simple approach that is nearly optimal, yet
independent of the exact SN neutrino spectra. We use this method to quantify
the increase in the pointing accuracy by the addition of gadolinium to water,
which tags neutrons from the inverse beta decay background. We also study the
dependence of the pointing accuracy on neutrino mixing scenarios and initial
spectra. We find that in the ``worst case'' scenario the pointing accuracy is
at 95% C.L. in the absence of tagging, which improves to
with a tagging efficiency of 95%. At a megaton detector, this accuracy can be
as good as . A TeV-neutrino burst is also expected to be emitted
contemporaneously with the SN optical explosion, which may locate the SN to
within a few tenths of a degree at a future km high-energy neutrino
telescope. If the SN is not seen in the electromagnetic spectrum, locating it
in the sky through neutrinos is crucial for identifying the Earth matter
effects on SN neutrino oscillations.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures, Revtex4 format. The final version to be
published in Phys. Rev. D. A few points in the original text are clarifie
Supernova neutrinos and antineutrinos: ternary luminosity diagram and spectral split patterns
In core-collapse supernovae, the nu_e and anti-nu_e species may experience
collective flavor swaps to non-electron species nu_x, within energy intervals
limited by relatively sharp boundaries ("splits"). These phenomena appear to
depend sensitively upon the initial energy spectra and luminosities. We
investigate the effect of generic variations of the fractional luminosities
(l_e, l_{anti-e}, l_x) with respect to the usual "energy equipartition" case
(1/6, 1/6, 1/6), within an early-time supernova scenario with fixed thermal
spectra and total luminosity. We represent the constraint l_e+l_{anti-e}+4l_x=1
in a ternary diagram, which is explored via numerical experiments (in
single-angle approximation) over an evenly-spaced grid of points. In inverted
hierarchy, single splits arise in most cases, but an abrupt transition to
double splits is observed for a few points surrounding the equipartition one.
In normal hierarchy, collective effects turn out to be unobservable at all grid
points but one, where single splits occur. Admissible deviations from
equipartition may thus induce dramatic changes in the shape of supernova
(anti)neutrino spectra. The observed patterns are interpreted in terms of
initial flavor polarization vectors (defining boundaries for the single/double
split transitions), lepton number conservation, and minimization of potential
energy.Comment: 24 pages, including 14 figures (1 section with 2 figures added).
Accepted for publication in JCA
Exploiting the neutronization burst of a galactic supernova
One of the robust features found in simulations of core-collapse supernovae
(SNe) is the prompt neutronization burst, i.e. the first milliseconds
after bounce when the SN emits with very high luminosity mainly
neutrinos. We examine the dependence of this burst on variations in the input
of current SN models and find that recent improvements of the electron capture
rates as well as uncertainties in the nuclear equation of state or a variation
of the progenitor mass have only little effect on the signature of the
neutronization peak in a megaton water Cherenkov detector for different
neutrino mixing schemes. We show that exploiting the time-structure of the
neutronization peak allows one to identify the case of a normal mass hierarchy
and large 13-mixing angle , where the peak is absent. The
robustness of the predicted total event number in the neutronization burst
makes a measurement of the distance to the SN feasible with a precision of
about 5%, even in the likely case that the SN is optically obscured.Comment: 14 pages, 17 eps figures, revtex4 style, minor comments adde
Supernova neutrino oscillations: what do we understand?
We summarize our current understanding of the neutrino flavor conversions
inside a core collapse supernova, clarifying the important role played by the
"collective effects" in determining flavor conversion probabilities. The
potentially observable and spectra may help us identify
the neutrino mixing scenario, distinguish between primary flux models, and
learn more about the supernova explosion.Comment: 6 pages, 1 eps figure, jpconf.cls used. Talk given at TAUP 2009,
Rome, July 200
Oscillation effects on supernova neutrino rates and spectra and detection of the shock breakout in a liquid Argon TPC
A liquid Argon TPC (ICARUS-like) has the ability to detect clean neutrino
bursts from type-II supernova collapses. In this paper, we consider for the
first time the four possible detectable channels, namely, the elastic
scattering on electrons from all neutrino species, charged current
absorption on with production of excited , charged current
absorption on with production of excited and neutral current
interactions on from all neutrino flavors. We compute the total rates and
energy spectra of supernova neutrino events including the effects of the
three--flavor neutrino oscillation with matter effects in the propagation in
the supernova. Results show a dramatic dependence on the oscillation parameters
and in the energy spectrum, especially for charged-current events. The shock
breakout phase has also been investigated using recent simulations of the core
collapse supernova. We stress the importance of the neutral current signal to
decouple supernova from neutrino oscillation physics.Comment: 40 pages, 19 figures, version v2 accepted for publication in JCAP.
accepted in JCA
Mini Z' Burst from Relic Supernova Neutrinos and Late Neutrino Masses
In models in which neutrinos are light, due to a low scale of symmetry
breaking, additional light bosons are generically present. We show that the
interaction between diffuse relic supernova neutrinos (RSN) and the cosmic
background neutrinos, via exchange of these light scalars, can result in a
dramatic change of the supernova (SN) neutrinos flux. Measurement of this
effect with current or future experiments can provide a spectacular direct
evidence for the low scale models. We demonstrate how the observation of
neutrinos from SN1987A constrains the symmetry breaking scale of the above
models. We also discuss how current and future experiments may confirm or
further constrain the above models, either by detecting the ``accumulative
resonance'' that diffuse RSN go through or via a large suppression of the flux
of neutrinos from nearby < O(Mpc) SN bursts.Comment: 24 pages, 8 figures, version to be published in JHE
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