Supernova Neutrino Detection in a liquid Argon TPC

TL;DR

This paper explores the potential of a liquid Argon TPC detector to observe neutrino bursts from supernovae, using new calculations for absorption processes and considering the detector's capabilities for event detection and directional determination.

Contribution

It introduces new RPA-based calculations for neutrino absorption on argon, including the first consideration of anti-neutrino absorption, and estimates detection rates for a 3 kton ICARUS detector.

Findings

244 events expected from a supernova at 10 kpc

First calculation of anti-neutrino absorption on argon

Discussion on supernova direction determination

Abstract

A liquid Argon TPC (ICARUS-like) has the ability to detect neutrino bursts from type-II supernova collapses, via three processes: elastic scattering by electrons from all neutrino species, and $\nu_e$ charged current absorption on $Ar$ with production of excited $K$ and $\bar\nu_e$ charged current absorption on $Ar$ with production of excited $Cl$. In this paper we have used new calculations in the random phase approximation (RPA) for the absorption processes. The anti-neutrino reaction $\bar\nu_e ^{40}Ar$ absorption has been considered for the first time. For definiteness, we compute rates for the 3 kton ICARUS detector: 244 events are expected from a supernova at a distance of 10 kpc, without considering oscillation effects. The impact of oscillations in the neutrino rates will be discussed in a separate paper. We also discuss the ability to determine the direction of the supernova.