Determination of neutrino incoming direction in the CHOOZ experiment and Supernova explosion location by scintillator detectors

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how scintillator detectors can determine the direction of incoming neutrinos, aiding in supernova localization, based on data from the CHOOZ experiment which measured antineutrino flux near nuclear reactors.

Contribution

It introduces a method to locate neutrino sources within an 18-degree cone using scintillator detectors, with implications for supernova tracking.

Findings

Antineutrino source localized within 18 degrees at 68% confidence level

Method applicable for supernova explosion localization

Data from CHOOZ experiment supports directional detection capabilities

Abstract

The CHOOZ experiment measured the antineutrino flux at a distance of about 1 Km from two nuclear reactors in order to detect possible neutrino oscillations with squared mass differences as low as 10**-3 eV**2 for full mixing. We show that the data analysis of the electron antineutrino events, collected by our liquid scintillation detector, locates the antineutrino source within a cone of half-aperture of about 18 degrees at the 68% C.L.. We discuss the implications of this experimental result for tracking down a supernova explosion.