Supernova electron-neutrino interactions with xenon in the nEXO detector

TL;DR

This paper models electron-neutrino interactions with xenon in the nEXO detector to evaluate its potential for detecting supernova neutrinos and reconstructing their spectra, demonstrating promising sensitivity up to 8 kpc.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed simulation of supernova electron-neutrino interactions in nEXO using MARLEY, assessing detection capabilities and spectral reconstruction.

Findings

nEXO can detect supernova neutrinos up to 8 kpc.

Simulation shows good agreement with theoretical cross sections.

Reconstruction of neutrino spectra is feasible for nearby supernovae.

Abstract

Electron-neutrino charged-current interactions with xenon nuclei were modeled in the nEXO neutrinoless double-$\beta$ decay detector (~5 metric ton, 90% ${}^{136}$Xe, 10% ${}^{134}$Xe) to evaluate its sensitivity to supernova neutrinos. Predictions for event rates and detectable signatures were modeled using the Model of Argon Reaction Low Energy Yields (MARLEY) event generator. We find good agreement between MARLEY's predictions and existing theoretical calculations of the inclusive cross sections at supernova neutrino energies. The interactions modeled by MARLEY were simulated within the nEXO simulation framework and were run through an example reconstruction algorithm to determine the detector's efficiency for reconstructing these events. The simulated data, incorporating the detector response, were used to study the ability of nEXO to reconstruct the incident electron-neutrino spectrum and these results were extended to a larger xenon detector of the same isotope enrichment. We estimate that nEXO will be able to observe electron-neutrino interactions with xenon from supernovae as far as 5-8 kpc from Earth, while the ability to reconstruct incident electron-neutrino spectrum parameters from observed interactions in nEXO is limited to closer supernovae.