No Arabic abstract
The signal produced in neutrino observatories by the pair-annihilation neutrinos emitted from a 20 $M_{odot}$ pre-supernova star at the silicon burning phase is estimated. The spectrum of the neutrinos with an average energy $sim$2 MeV is calculated with the use of the Monte Carlo method. A few relevant reactions for neutrinos and anti-neutrinos in modern detectors are considered. The most promising results are from $bar{ u}_e + p longrightarrow n + e^{+}$ reaction. During the Si-burning phase we expect 1.27 neutrons/day/kiloton of water to be produced by neutrinos from a star located at a distance of 1 kpc. Small admixture of effective neutron-absorbers as e.g. NaCl or GdCl$_{3}$ makes these neutrons easily visible because of Cherenkov light produced by electrons which were hit by $sim$8 MeV photon cascade emitted by Cl or Gd nuclei. The estimated rate of neutron production for SNO and Super-Kamiokande is, respectively, 2.2 and 41 events per day for a star at 1 kpc. For future detectors UNO and Hyper-Kamiokande we expect 5.6 and 6.9 events per day even for a star 10 kpc away. This would make it possible to foresee a massive star death a few days before its core collapse. Importance of such a detection for theoretical astrophysics is discussed.
Analysis of the massive star properties during C, Ne, O and Si burning i.e. the neutrino-cooled stage, leads to the simplified neutrino emission model. In the framework of this model we have simulated spectrum of the antineutrinos. Flux normalized according to the massive star model with explicitly given neutrino luminosity allow us to predict signal produced in water Cherenkov detectors. The results are discussed from the point of view of the possibility of the core-collapse supernova event prediction in advance of a few days.
We would like to discuss prospects for neutrino observations of the core-collapse supernova progenitor during neutrino-cooled stage. We will present new theoretical results on thermal neutrino and antineutrino spectra produced deep inside the pre-supernova core. Three competing processes: pair-, photo and plasma-neutrino production, are taken into account. The results will be used to estimate signal in existing and future neutrino detectors. Chance for supernova prediction is estimated, with possible aid to core-collapse neutrino and gravitational wave detectors in the form of early warning.
Core-collapse supernovae emit of order $10^{58}$ neutrinos and antineutrinos of all flavors over several seconds, with average energies of 10--25 MeV. In the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO), a future Galactic supernova at a distance of 10 kpc would cause several hundred events. The $ u_mu$ and $ u_tau$ neutrinos and antineutrinos are of particular interest, as a test of the supernova mechanism. In addition, it is possible to measure or limit their masses by their delay (determined from neutral-current events) relative to the $bar{ u}_e$ neutrinos (determined from charged-current events). Numerical results are presented for such a future supernova as seen in SNO. Under reasonable assumptions, and in the presence of the expected counting statistics, a $ u_mu$ or $ u_tau$ mass down to about 30 eV can be simply and robustly determined. This seems to be the best technique for direct measurement of these masses.
In the late stages of nuclear burning for massive stars ($M>8~M_{sun}$), the production of neutrino-antineutrino pairs through various processes becomes the dominant stellar cooling mechanism. As the star evolves, the energy of these neutrinos increases and in the days preceding the supernova a significant fraction of emitted electron anti-neutrinos exceeds the energy threshold for inverse beta decay on free hydrogen. This is the golden channel for liquid scintillator detectors because the coincidence signature allows for significant reductions in background signals. We find that the kiloton-scale liquid scintillator detector KamLAND can detect these pre-supernova neutrinos from a star with a mass of $25~M_{sun}$ at a distance less than 690~pc with 3$sigma$ significance before the supernova. This limit is dependent on the neutrino mass ordering and background levels. KamLAND takes data continuously and can provide a supernova alert to the community.
An new method of calculating the energy spectrum of neutrinos and antineutrinos produced in the electron-positron annihilation processes in hot stellar plasma is presented. Detection of these neutrinos, produced copiously in the presupernova which is evolutionary advanced neutrino-cooled star, may serve in future as a trigger of pre-collapse early warning system. Also, observation of neutrinos will probe final stages of thermonuclear burning in the presupernova. The spectra obtained with the new method are compared to Monte Carlo simulations. To achieve high accuracy in the energy range of interest, determined by neutrino detector thresholds, differential cross-section for production of the antineutrino, previously unknown in an explicit form, is calculated as a function of energy in the plasma rest frame. Neutrino spectrum is obtained as a 3-dimensional integral, computed with the use of the Cuhre algorithm of at least 5% accuracy. Formulae for the mean neutrino energy and its dispersion are given as a combination of Fermi-Dirac integrals. Also, useful analytical approximations of the whole spectrum are shown.