Supernovae neutrino detection via coherent scattering off silicon nuclei

TL;DR

This paper evaluates the potential of silicon-based CCD detectors to observe low-energy neutrinos from supernovae via coherent elastic scattering, highlighting their sensitivity and ability to differentiate supernova models.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed estimation of supernova neutrino detection rates using silicon CCD detectors and discusses their effectiveness for supernova observation.

Findings

Approximately 4 events expected from a supernova 1 kpc away with 10 kg silicon.

Detection rates increase to 30-120 events for supernovae similar to Betelgeuse.

Silicon detectors can potentially distinguish between different supernova models.

Abstract

Low-energy neutrinos are clean messengers from supernovae explosions and probably carry unique insights into the process of stellar evolution. We estimate the expected number of events considering coherent elastic scattering of neutrinos off silicon nuclei, as would happen in Charge Coupled Devices (CCD) detectors. The number of expected events, integrated over a window of about 18 s, is $\sim$ 4 if we assume 10 kg of silicon and a supernovae 1 kpc away. For a distance similar to the red supergiant Betelgeuse, the number of expected events increases to $\sim$ 30 - 120, depending on the supernovae model. We argue that silicon detectors can be effective for supernovae neutrinos, and might possibly distinguish between models for certain target masses and distances.