In this paper, we first calculate the realistic Earth matter effects in the detection of type II supernova neutrinos at the Daya Bay reactor neutrino experiment which is currently under construction. It is found that the Earth matter effects depend on the neutrino incident angle $θ$, the neutrino mass hierarchy $Δm_{31}^{2}$, the crossing probability at the high resonance region inside the supernova, $P_{H}$, the neutrino temperature, $T_α$, and the pinching parameter in the neutrino spectrum, $η_α$. We also take into account the collective effects due to neutrino-neutrino interactions inside the supernova. With the expression for the dependence of $P_H$ on the neutrino mixing angle $θ_{13}$, we obtain the relations between $θ_{13}$ and the event numbers for various reaction channels of supernova neutrinos. Using these relations, we propose a possible method to acquire information about $θ_{13}$ smaller than $1.5^\circ$. Such a sensitivity cannot yet be achieved by the Daya Bay reactor neutrino experiment which has a sensitivity of the order of $θ_{13}\sim 3^\circ$. Furthermore, we apply this method to other neutrino experiments, i.e. Super-K, SNO, KamLAND, LVD, MinBooNE, Borexino, and Double-Chooz. We also study the energy spectra of the differential event numbers, ${\rm d}N/{\rm d}E$.
We calculated the matter effect, including both the Earth and supernova, on the detection of neutrinos from type II supernovae at the proposed Daya Bay reactor neutrino experiment. It is found that apart from the dependence on the flip probability P_H inside the supernova and the mass hierarchy of neutrinos, the amount of the Earth matter effect depends on the direction of the incoming supernova neutrinos, and reaches the biggest value when the incident angle of neutrinos is around 93^\circ. In the reaction channel \barν_e + p --> e^+ + n the Earth matter effect can be as big as about 12%. For…
In this paper, we first discuss the detection of supernova neutrino on Earth. Then we propose a possible method to acquire information about $θ_{13}$ smaller than $1.5^\circ$ by detecting the ratio of the event numbers of different flavor supernova neutrinos. Such an sensitivity cannot yet be achieved by the Daya Bay reactor neutrino experiment.
Collective neutrino flavor transformations deep inside a supernova are sensitive to the neutrino mass hierarchy even at extremely small values of theta(13). Exploiting this effect, we show that comparison of the antineutrino signals from a galactic supernova in two megaton class water Cherenkov detectors, one of which is shadowed by the Earth, will enable us to distinguish between the hierarchies if sin^2 theta(13) < 10^{-5}. On the other hand, the observation of Earth effects in the inverted hierarchy for sin^2 theta(13) > 10^{-3} will provide a robust observable signature of collective oscil…
We explore the earth matter effects on the energy spectra of neutrinos from a supernova. We show that the observations of the energy spectra of $ν_e$ and $\barν_e$ from a galactic supernova may enable us to identify the solar neutrino solution, to determine the sign of $Δm^2_{32}$, and to probe the mixing matrix element $|U_{e3}|^2$ to values as low as $10^{-3}$. We point out scenarios in which the matter effects can even be established through the observation of the spectrum at a single detector.
Matter effects on neutrino oscillations in both, a supernova and the Earth, change the observed supernova neutrino spectra. We calculate the expected number of supernova neutrino interactions for ICARUS, SK and SNO detectors as a function of the distance which they traveled in the Earth. Calculations are performed for supernova type II at 10kpc from the Earth, using standard supernova neutrino fluxes described by thermal Fermi--Dirac distributions and the PREM I Earth matter density profile.
We consider the supernova shock effects, the Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein (MSW) effects, the collective effects, and the Earth matter effects in the detection of type II supernova neutrinos on the Earth. It is found that the event number of supernova neutrinos depends on the neutrino mass hierarchy, the neutrino mixing angle $θ_{13}$, and neutrino masses. Therefore, we propose possible methods to identify the mass hierarchy and acquire information about $θ_{13}$ and neutrino masses by detecting supernova neutrinos. We apply these methods to some current neutrino experiments.
After considering the supernova shock effects, the Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein effects, the neutrino collective effects, and the Earth matter effects, the detection of supernova neutrinos at China Spallation Neutron Sources is studied and the event numbers of different flavor supernova neutrinos observed through various reaction channels are calculated with the neutrino energy spectra described by the Fermi-Dirac distribution and "beta fit" distribution respectively. Furthermore, the numerical calculation method of supernova neutrino detection on the Earth is applied to some other spallation …
We perform a detailed study of the Earth matter effects on supernova neutrinos with neutrino oscillation parameter LMA and small $θ_{13}$. The Earth effects show significant dependences on the neutrino path length inside the Earth and the value of $Δm^{2}_{12}$. We investigate rather optimistically a possibility that we can probe the value of $Δm^{2}_{12}$ by the Earth effects. We assume that $θ_{12}$ and the direction of the supernova are known with enough accuracy and that the resonance that occurs at higher density in supernova envelope is completely nonadiabatic. Further the neutrino spect…
We study Earth matter effect in oscillation of supernovae neutrinos. We show that detecting Earth matter effect gives an independent measurement of spectra of supernovae neutrinos, i.e. the flavor difference of the spectra of supernovae neutrinos. We study the effect of energy resolution and angular resolution of final electron or positron on detecting the signal of Earth matter effect. We show that varying the widths of energy bins in analysis can change the signal strength of Earth matter effect and the statistical fluctuation. A reasonable choice of energy bins can both suppress the statist…
Supernova (SN) neutrinos detected on the Earth are subject to the shock wave effects, the Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein (MSW) effects, the neutrino collective effects and the Earth matter effects. Considering the recent experimental result about the large mixing angle $θ_{13}$ ($\backsimeq8.8^{\circ}$) provided by the Daya Bay Collaboration and applying the available knowledge for the neutrino conversion probability in the high resonance of SN, $P_{H}$, which is in the form of hypergeometric function in the case of large $θ_{13}$, we deduce the expression of $P_{H}$ taking into account the shoc…
The Earth effects on the energy spectra of supernova neutrinos are studied. We analyze numerically the time-integrated energy spectra of neutrino in a mantle-core-mantle step function model of the Earth's matter density profile. We consider a realistic frame-work in which there are three active neutrinos whose mass squared differences and mixings are constrained by the present understanding of solar and atmospheric neutrinos. We find that the energy spectra change for some allowed mixing parameters. Especially, the expected number of events at SNO shows characteristic behavior with respect to …
The neutrino oscillations in Earth matter introduce modulations in the supernova neutrino spectra. These modulations can be exploited to identify the presence of Earth effects on the spectra, which would enable us to put a limit on the value of the neutrino mixing angle $θ_{13}$ and to identify whether the mass hierarchy is normal or inverted. We demonstrate how the Earth effects can be identified at a single detector without prior assumptions about the flavor-dependent source spectra, using the Fourier transform of the ``inverse-energy'' spectrum of the signal. We explore the factors affectin…
We show that the anomaly of the positron fraction observed by the PAMELA experiment can be attributed to recent supernova explosion(s) in a dense gas cloud (DC) near the Earth. Protons are accelerated around the supernova remnant (SNR). Electrons and positrons are created through hadronic interactions inside the DC. Their spectrum is harder than that of the background because the SNR spends much time in a radiative phase. Our scenario predicts that the anti-proton flux dominates that of the background for >~100 GeV. We compare the results with observations (Fermi, HESS, PPB-BETS, and ATIC).
The Earth matter effects on supernova (SN) neutrinos can be identified at a single detector through peaks in the Fourier transform of their ``inverse energy'' spectrum. The positions of these peaks are independent of the SN models and therefore the peaks can be used as a robust signature of the Earth matter effects, which in turn can distinguish between different neutrino mixing scenarios. Whereas only one genuine peak is observable when the neutrinos traverse only the Earth mantle, traversing also the core gives rise to multiple peaks. We calculate the strengths and positions of these peaks a…
We investigate the possibility to use the neutrinos coming from a future galactic supernova explosion to perform neutrino oscillation tomography of the Earth's core. We propose to use existing or planned detectors, resulting in an additional payoff. Provided that all of the discussed uncertainties can be reduced as expected, we find that the average matter densities of the Earth's inner and outer cores could be measured with a precision competitive with geophysics. However, since seismic waves are more sensitive to matter density jumps than average matter densities, neutrino physics would give…
We show how by studying the Earth matter effect on oscillations of solar and supernova neutrinos inside the Earth one can in principle reconstruct the electron number density profile of the Earth. A direct inversion of the oscillation problem is possible due to the existence of a very simple analytic formula for the Earth matter effect on oscillations of solar and supernova neutrinos. From the point of view of the Earth tomography, these oscillations have a number of advantages over the oscillations of the accelerator or atmospheric neutrinos, which stem from the fact that solar and supernova …
The black hole at the center of the galaxy is a powerful lens for supernova neutrinos. In the very special circumstance of a supernova near the extended line of sight from Earth to the galactic center, lensing could dramatically enhance the neutrino flux at Earth and stretch the neutrino pulse.
The observation of Earth matter effects in the spectrum of neutrinos coming from a next galactic core-collapse supernova (CCSN) could, in principle, reveal if neutrino mass ordering is normal or inverted. One of the possible ways to identify the mass ordering is through the observation of the modulations that appear in the spectrum when neutrinos travel through the Earth before they arrive at the detector. These features in the neutrino spectrum depend on two factors, the average neutrino energies, and the difference between the primary neutrino fluxes of electron and other flavors produced in…
We examine the possibility that a nearby supernova explosion could have caused one or more of the mass extinctions identified by palaeontologists. We discuss the likely rate of such events in the light of the recent identification of Geminga as a supernova remnant less than 100 pc away and the discovery of a millisecond pulsar about 150 pc away, and observations of SN 1987A. The fluxes of $γ$ radiation and charged cosmic rays on the Earth are estimated, and their effects on the Earth's ozone layer discussed. A supernova explosion of the order of 10 pc away could be expected every few hundred m…
I shall review some of the recent results concerning the astrophysics of a core collapse supernova (SN) and neutrino oscillations. Neutrinos play an important role in the SN explosion, and they also carry most of the energy of the collapse. The energy spectra of neutrinos and antineutrinos arriving at the Earth incorporate information on the primary neutrino fluxes as well as the neutrino mixing scenario. The analysis of neutrino propagation through the matter of the supernova and the Earth, combined with the observation of a neutrino burst from a galactic SN, enables us to put limits on the m…
We perform a detailed study of the Earth matter effects on supernova neutrinos. The dependences of these effects on the properties of the original neutrino fluxes, on the trajectory of the neutrinos inside the Earth and on the oscillation parameters are described. We show that, for a large fraction (60 %) of the possible arrival times of the signal, the neutrino flux crosses a substantial amount of the matter of the Earth at least for one of the existing detectors. For oscillation parameters from the LMA solution of the solar neutrino problem the Earth matter effect consists in an oscillatory …
In this paper we study the physics potential of the KamLAND detector in probing neutrino oscillation parameters through observation of supernova neutrinos. In particular, we discuss the possibilities of probing the mixing angle $θ_{13}$ and determining the sign of $Δm^2_{32}$ from the total charged current(CC) event rates on the proton and $^{12}{C}$ target, as well as from the CC spectra. We discuss the chances of probing the earth matter effect induced modulations from the observation of CC spectra in the different CC reactions in KamLAND and find the volume required to get a statistically s…
Beyond-the-Standard-Model interactions of neutrinos among themselves -- {\it secret interactions} -- in the supernova core may prevent the shock revival, halting the supernova explosion. Besides, if supernova neutrinos en route to Earth undergo secret interactions with relic neutrinos, the neutrino burst reaching Earth may be down-scattered in energy, falling below the detection threshold. We probe secret neutrino interactions through supernova neutrinos and apply our findings to the supernova SN 1987A. We place the most stringent bounds on flavor-universal secret interactions occurring throug…
Non-standard interactions (NSI) of neutrinos with matter mediated by a scalar field would induce medium-dependent neutrino masses which can modify oscillation probabilities. Generating observable effects requires an ultra-light scalar mediator. We derive general expressions for the scalar NSI using techniques of quantum field theory at finite density and temperature, including the long-range force effects, and discuss various limiting cases applicable to the neutrino propagation in different media, such as the Earth, Sun, supernovae and early Universe. We also analyze various terrestrial and s…
Supernova neutrinos have several exceptional features which can lead to interesting physical consequences. At the production point their wave packets have an extremely small size $σ_x \sim 10^{-11}$ cm; hence the energy uncertainty can be as large as the energy itself, $σ_E \sim E$, and the coherence length is short. On the way to the Earth the wave packets of mass eigenstates spread to macroscopic sizes and separate. Inside the Earth the mass eigenstates split into eigenstates in matter and oscillate again. The coherence length in the Earth is comparable with the radius of the Earth. We explo…
We study the beamline properties of a long baseline neutrino-oscillation experiment from CERN to the Pyhasalmi Mine in Finland. We obtain the real density profile for this particular neutrino oscillation beamline by applying the geophysical data. The effects of the matter density to neutrino oscillations are considered. Also we compare the realistic density profile with that acquired from the PREM model.
Neutrino oscillations in the Earth matter may introduce peculiar modulations in the supernova (SN) neutrino spectra. The detection of this effect has been proposed as diagnostic tool for the neutrino mass hierarchy at "large" 1-3 leptonic mixing angle theta13. We perform an updated study on the observability of this effect at large next-generation underground detectors (i.e., 0.4 Mton water Cherenkov, 50 kton scintillation and 100 kton liquid Argon detectors) based on neutrino fluxes from state-of-the-art SN simulations and accounting for statistical fluctuations via Montecarlo simulations. Si…
We consider the possibility that there exist sterile neutrinos which are closely degenerate in mass with the active neutrinos and mixed with them. We investigate the effects of this kind of active-sterile neutrino mixing on the composition of supernova neutrino flux at the Earth. If an adiabatic MSW-transition between active and sterile neutrinos takes place, it could dramatically diminish the electron neutrino flux.
We point out possible features of neutrino spectra from a future galactic core collapse supernova that will enhance our understanding of neutrino mixing as well as supernova astrophysics. We describe the neutrino flavor conversions inside the star, emphasizing the role of "collective effects" that has been appreciated and understood only very recently. These collective effects change the traditional predictions of flavor conversion substantially, and enable the identification of neutrino mixing scenarios through signatures like Earth matter effects.
We analyze the neutrino conversions inside a supernova in the 3$ν$ mixing scheme, and their effects on the neutrino spectra observed at the earth. We find that the observations of the energy spectra of neutrinos from a future galactic supernova may enable us to identify the solar neutrino solution, to determine the sign of $Δm^2_{32}$, and to probe the mixing matrix element |U_{e3}|^2 to values as low as 10^{-4}-10^{-3}.
Supernova neutrinos, which arrive at Earth earlier than light, allow for the earliest determination of the direction of the supernova. The topic of this paper is to study how accurately we can determine the supernova direction. We simulate supernova neutrino events at the SuperKamiokande detector, using a realistic supernova model and several realistic neutrino oscillation models. With the results of our simulation, we can restrict the supernova direction to be within a circle of radius $9^\circ$. In several neutrino oscillation models, this accuracy is increased to $8^\circ$. We also discuss …
Models with extra space dimensions naturally provide for the existence of fermions that propagate in them. These are seen in 4D as an infinite tower of sterile neutrinos possibly mixed with the Standard Model ones. We consider the effect of such a mixing in the context of core collapse supernova physics. We show that the potentially dramatic modifications to the supernova evolution (commonly believed to set very strong bounds on the parameters of the extra dimensions) are prevented by a mechanism of feedback, so that much weaker bounds need to be imposed. Nevertheless, the supernova core evolu…
We study the effects of neutrino oscillation on supernova neutrino in the case of the inverted mass hierarchy ($m_{3} \ll m_{1} < m_{2}$) as well as the normal mass hierarchy ($m_{1} < m_{2} \ll m_{3}$). Numerical analysis using a realistic supernova and presupernova model allows us to discuss quantitatively a possibility to probe neutrino oscillation parameters. We show that information about the mass hierarchy can be obtained if $θ_{13}$ is rather large ($\sin^{2}{2 θ_{13}} > 10^{-3}$) and that $θ_{13}$ can be well probed by SuperKamiokande if the neutrino mass hierarchy is the inverted case…
We study the role that the future detection of the neutrino burst from a galactic supernova can play in the reconstruction of the neutrino mass spectrum. We consider all possible 3$ν$ mass and flavor spectra which describe the solar and atmospheric neutrino data. For each of these spectra we find the observable effects of the supernova neutrino conversions both in the matter of the star and the earth. We show that studies of the electron neutrino and anineutrino spectra as well as observations of the neutral current effects from supernova will allow us (i) to identify the solar neutrino soluti…
A model-independent experimental signature for flavor oscillations in the neutrino signal from the next Galactic supernova (SN) would be the observation of Earth matter effects. We calculate the probability for observing a Galactic SN shadowed by the Earth as a function of the detector's geographic latitude. This probability depends only mildly on details of the Galactic SN distribution. A location at the North Pole would be optimal with a shadowing probability of about 60%, but a far-northern location such as Pyhasalmi in Finland, the proposed site for a large-volume scintillator detector, is…
We present the consequences of a large radiative correction term coming from Supersymmetry (SUSY) upon the electron neutrino fluxes streaming off a core- collapse supernova using a 3-flavor neutrino-neutrino interaction code. We explore the interplay between the neutrino-neutrino interaction and the effects of the resonance associated with the mu-tau neutrino index of refraction. We find that sizeable effects may be visible in the flux on Earth and, consequently, on the number of events upon the energy signal of electron neutrinos in a liquid argon detector. Such effect could lead to a probe f…
The undetermined neutrino mass hierarchy may leave an observable imprint on the neutrino fluxes from a core-collapse supernova (SN). The interpretation of the observables, however, is subject to the uncertain SN models and the flavor conversion mechanism of neutrinos in a SN. We attempt to propose a qualitative interpretation of the expected neutrino events at terrestrial detectors, focusing on the accretion phase of the neutrino burst. The flavor conversions due to neutrino self-interaction, the MSW effect, and the Earth regeneration effect are incorporated in the calculation. It leads to sev…
If a supernova explosion occurs within a few hundred parsecs from the Earth, a huge number of axions, in addition to neutrinos, may arrive at the Earth. In this paper, we discuss in detail the prospect of detecting those supernova axions by an axion helioscope. With the help of a pre-supernova neutrino alert system, it is possible to point a helioscope at an exploding supernova in advance. The supernova axions can then be detected by a gamma-ray detector installed at the end of the helioscope. We call such a detection system an axion supernova-scope (SNscope). We propose a conceptual design fo…
We present a formalism for the matter effects in the Earth on low energy neutrino fluxes which is both accurate and has all advantages of a full analytic treatment. The oscillation probabilities are calculated up to second order term in $ε(x) \equiv 2V(x)E/Δm^2$ where $V(x)$ is the neutrino potential at position $x$. We show the absence of large undamped phases which makes the expansion in $ε$ well behaved. An improved expansion is presented in terms of the variation of $V(x)$ around a suitable mean value which allows to treat energies up to those relevant for Supernova neutrinos. We discuss a…
We investigate the feasibility of probing the neutrino mass hierarchy and the mixing angle $ϕ_{13}$ with the neutrino burst from a future supernova. An inverse power-law density $ρ\sim r^{n} $ with varying $n$ is adopted in the analysis as the density profile of a typical core-collapse supernova. The survival probabilities of $ν_{e}$ and $\barν_{e}$ are shown to reduce to two-dimensional functions of $n$ and $ϕ_{13}$. It is found that in the $n-\sin^{2} ϕ_{13}$ parameter space, the 3D plots of the probability functions exhibit highly non-trivial structures that are sensitive to the mass hierar…
The flavor conversion of supernova neutrinos can lead to observable signatures related to the unknown neutrino parameters. As one of the determinants in dictating the efficiency of resonant flavor conversion, the local density profile near the MSW resonance in a supernova environment is, however, not so well understood. In this analysis, variable power-law functions are adopted to represent the independent local density profiles near the locations of resonance. It is shown that the uncertain matter density profile in a supernova, the possible neutrino mass hierarchies, and the undetermined 1-3…
The detection of galactic supernova (SN) neutrinos represents one of the future frontiers of low-energy neutrino physics and astrophysics. The neutron coherence of neutral currents (NC) allows quite large cross sections in the case of neutron rich targets, which can be exploited in detecting earth and sky neutrinos by measuring nuclear recoils. A core-collapse supernova represents one of the most powerful source of (anti)neutrinos in the Universe. These (NC) cross sections are not dependent on flavor conversions and, thus, their measurement will provide useful information about the neutrino so…
We present an update of our previous study (astro-ph/0112312) on how $ν$ oscillations affect the signal from a supernova core collapse observed in the LVD detector at LNGS. In this paper we use a recent, more precise determination of the cross section (astro-ph/0302055) to calculate the expected number of inverse beta decay events, we introduce in the simulation also the $ν$-{\rm Fe} interactions, we include the Earth matter effects and, finally, we study also the inverted mass hierarchy case.
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 experime…
The MiniBooNE detector at Fermilab is designed to search for $ν_μ\to ν_e$ oscillation appearance at $E_ν\sim 1 {\rm GeV}$ and to make a decisive test of the LSND signal. The main detector (inside a veto shield) is a spherical volume containing 0.680 ktons of mineral oil. This inner volume, viewed by 1280 phototubes, is primarily a Čerenkov medium, as the scintillation yield is low. The entire detector is under a 3 m earth overburden. Though the detector is not optimized for low-energy (tens of MeV) events, and the cosmic-ray muon rate is high (10 kHz), we show that MiniBooNE can function as a …
In this letter, we propose that the recent measurement of superluminal neutrinos in OPERA could be explained by the existence of a domain wall which is left behind after the phase transition of some scalar field in the universe. The scalar field couples to the neutrino and photon field with different effective couplings. It causes different effective metrics and the emergence of superluminal neutrinos. Moreover, if the supernova and the earth are in the same plane parallel to the wall, or the thickness of the wall is much smaller than the distance from the supernova to the earth, the contradic…
Electron number densities in stars and the Earth are inhomogeneous because of atomic electrons. The large inhomogeneities on atomic-scale tend to form at tops of respective layers of stars, and 1s electrons of O locally produce weak potentials higher than that of the high MSW resonance. Then, supernova neutrinos experience vast numbers of non-adiabatic transitions. This inhomogeneous electron potential generates finite amplitudes of all three propagation eigenstates, and wave packets effectively separate. Then, spectral differences between three flavors significantly diminishes after propagati…
We explore the possibility to observe the effects of electron neutrinos from past galactic supernovae, through a geochemical measurement of the amount of Technetium 97 produced by neutrino-induced reactions in a Molybdenum ore. The calculations we present take into account the recent advances in our knowledge of neutrino interactions, of neutrino oscillations inside a supernova, of the solar neutrino flux at Earth and of possible failed supernovae. The predicted Technetium 97 abundance is of the order of 10^7 atoms per 10 kilotons of ore, which is close to the current geochemical experimental …
We show that a self-interacting neutrino gas can spontaneously acquire a non-stationary pulsating component in its flavor content, with a frequency that can exactly cancel the "multi-angle" refractive effects of dense matter. This can then enable homogeneous and inhomogeneous flavor conversion instabilities to exist even at large neutrino and matter densities, where the system would have been stable if the evolution were strictly stationary. Large flavor conversions, especially close to a supernova core, are possible via this novel mechanism. This may have important consequences for the explos…
We consider the mixing of muon and tau neutrinos with sterile fermion fields propagating in extra dimensions in the context of core collapse supernova physics, extending the analysis of the electron neutrino case done in a previous work. We show that the potentially dramatic modifications to the supernova evolution are prevented by a mechanism of feedback, so that no severe bounds on the parameters of the extra dimensions need to be imposed. Nevertheless, the supernova core evolution is significantly modified. We discuss the consequences on the delayed explosion mechanism and the compatibility…
We calculate the expected galactic supernova neutrino signal at large next-generation underground detectors. At different epochs after the explosion, the primary fluxes can be quite different. For these primary neutrino fluxes, spectral splits induced by collective neutrino flavor transformations can arise for either mass hierarchy in both neutrino and antineutrino channels. We classify flux models according to the nature and number of these splits, and calculate the observable electron-neutrino and electron-antineutrino spectra at Earth, taking into account subsequent matter effects. We find …
We demonstrate that the detection of shock modulations of the neutrino spectra from a galactic core-collapse supernova is sufficient to obtain a high significance determination of the neutrino mass hierarchy if the supernova event is observed in both a Mton-class water Cherenkov detector and a 100 kton-class liquid argon detector. Neither detailed supernova neutrino flux modelling nor observation of Earth matter effects is needed for this determination. As a corollary, a nonzero value of θ_x will be established.
The formalism of flavor conversion of supernova neutrinos is generalized to include possible differences in the fluxes of the muon and tau neutrinos produced in the star. In this case the radiatively induced difference of the nu_mu and nu_tau potentials in matter becomes important. The nu_mu and nu_tau flux differences can manifest themselves in the effects of the Earth matter on the observed nu_e (antinu_e) signal if: (i) the neutrino mass hierarchy is normal (inverted); (ii) the solution of the solar neutrino problem is in the LMA region; (iii) the mixing U_{e3} is relatively large: |U_{e3}|…
Analyses of observable supernova neutrino oscillation effects require the calculation of the electron (anti)neutrino survival probability P_ee along a given supernova matter density profile. We propose a simple analytical prescription for P_ee, based on a double-exponential form for the crossing probability and on the concept of maximum violation of adiabaticity. In the case of two-flavor transitions, the prescription is shown to reproduce accurately, in the whole neutrino oscillation parameter space, the results of exact numerical calculations for generic (realistic or power-law) profiles. Th…
