Observing a high-statistics neutrino signal from a galactic supernova (SN)
would allow one to test the standard delayed explosion scenario and may allow
one to distinguish between the normal and inverted neutrino mass ordering due
to the effects of flavor oscillations in the SN envelope. One may even observe
a signature of SN shock-wave propagation in the detailed time-evolution of the
neutrino spectra. A clear identification of flavor oscillation effects in a
water Cherenkov detector probably requires a megatonne-class experiment.Comment: Proc. 129 Nobel Symposium "Neutrino Physics", 19-24 Aug 2004, Swede