Prospects for detecting periodic or sharp fast-time features in the supernova neutrino lightcurve with IceCube

TL;DR

This paper evaluates IceCube and IceCube-Gen2's ability to detect fast-time features and phase transitions in supernova neutrino signals, demonstrating enhanced sensitivity with wavelength shifters and potential for observing distant supernovae.

Contribution

It introduces a generic parameterization to assess detectability of supernova neutrino features without relying on specific models, and quantifies the detection prospects of IceCube-Gen2 for various supernova scenarios.

Findings

IceCube-Gen2 with wavelength shifters can detect weaker modulations (>25%)

Phase transitions to quark stars are detectable at 5σ up to the Galaxy's edge

Black hole forming supernovae are observable within the Galaxy with high probability

Abstract

Neutrinos produced in core-collapse supernova offer a direct probe into the hydrodynamics and energy transport mechanisms during the collapse and play a pivotal role in the shock revival and success of the supernova explosion. Fast-time features of the neutrino luminosity and energy spectrum encode information about phenomena such as turbulence, convection, shock revival and potential quark-hadron phase transitions. In this study, we explore the detection capabilities of large-volume neutrino telescopes with a focus on IceCube and the planned extension IceCube-Gen2. Furthermore, we consider the effect on the detection sensitivity from wavelength shifters through enhanced light collection. A variety of models predict periodic fast-time features in supernova light curves; to quantify their detectability without relying on specific models, we investigate the detector response to a generic parameterisation of such features. We find that independent of feature frequency, IceCube-Gen2 instrumented with wavelength shifters has sensitivity to weaker modulations ($>25\%$ amplitude) as compared to only the strongest modulations ($>50\%$ amplitude) with IceCube. In addition, we examine the sensitivity of the neutrino lightcurve to sharp features from a quark-hadron phase transition. Phase transitions leading to a quark star remnant are detectable with IceCube at $5\sigma$ up to the edge of the Galaxy, and throughout the Small Magellanic Cloud with IceCube-Gen2 equipped with wavelength-shifters. In contrast, models collapsing into a black hole are observable only within the Galaxy, covering $41\%$ of the CCSNe population for IceCube and nearly all ($91\%$) for IceCube-Gen2 complemented by wavelength shifters. These results highlight the potential of IceCube-Gen2 for detecting Galactic sources more reliably and with greater reach.