Supernova Physics at DUNE Workshop

Mar 11, 2016, 8:00 AM → Mar 12, 2016, 1:00 PM US/Eastern

Robeson Hall 210 (Blacksburg)

Camillo Mariani (Virginia Tech), John Beacom (OSU), Shunsaku Horiuchi (Virginia Tech)

The "Supernova physics at DUNE" workshop will be held from the morning of March 11th, 2016, until the early afternoon of March 12th, 2016, at Virginia Tech (Blacksburg campus).

Recent advances in the LBNF/DUNE effort have brought new focus on low-energy neutrino physics. The objectives of this two-day focused workshop are to discuss:

1. the low-energy capabilities of DUNE,
2. the recent status of supernova physics, and
3. the potential impacts of DUNE for unraveling the physics of supernovae in future Galactic core-collapse neutrino datasets, including the physics of cross sections and backgrounds that are required to deliver science.

The workshop will bring together theorists and experimentalists at this exciting intersection, and will be modeled to provide a venue for stimulating exchange of scientific ideas and information among experts in different areas.

Back to conference webpage. 

Friday, March 11

Introduction

1 Introduction and Overview

Speaker: Dr John Beacom

Supernova theory

2 Supenova explosion

Speaker: Dr Anthony Mezzacappa

Slides 1_Mezzacappa.pdf

3 Supernova microphysics and neutrino signatures

Speaker: Dr Evan O'Connor

Slides 2_OConnor.pdf

Break

Supernova theory

4 SN neutrino oscillations

Speaker: Dr Alex Friedland

Slides 2_Friedland.pdf

5 Neutrino and NSI physics in supernovae

Speaker: Dr Jim Kneller

Slides 4_Kneller.pdf

6 DISCUSSION: What do theorists need detected in the next SN explosion?

Lunch

Packed lunch

DUNE

7 Scientific program of DUNE: primary and ancillary goals

Speaker: Dr Andre Rubbia

Slides 5_Rubbia.pdf

8 DUNE detector design with the emphasis on low-energy reconstruction

Speaker: Dr Ines Gil Botella

Slides 6_GilBotella.pdf

Break

DUNE

9 Importance of detector effects in the δCP measurement

Speaker: Dr Artur Ankowski

Slides 7_Ankowski.pdf

10 Detection of SN neutrinos in DUNE

Speaker: Dr Kate Scholberg

Slides 8_Scholberg.pdf

11 DISCUSSION: Why is the low-energy sensitivity beneficial for both the oscillation and SN program of DUNE?

Break

Feasibility: Backgrounds and cross sections

12 Weak response of nuclear matter to low-energy neutrinos

Speaker: Dr Omar Benhar

Slides 9_Benhar.pdf

13 Argon cross sections at low energies

Speaker: Dr Alessandro Lovato

Slides 10_Lovato.pdf

14 Cross section measurements for SN neutrinos

Speaker: Dr Kate Scholberg

Slides 11_Scholberg.pdf

Dinner at 622 North Restaurant

Saturday, March 12

Multi-detector and multi-flavor prospects

15 Neutron transport in Argon TPC

Speaker: Prof. Alireza HAGHIGHAT

Slides 12_Haghighat.pptx

16 Detection of SN neutrinos in Hyper-K

Speaker: Dr Erin O'Sullivan

Slides 13_OSullivan.pdf

17 Gadolinium in water Cherenkov detectors improves detection of supernova electron neutrino

Detecting supernova $\nu_e$ is essential for testing supernova and neutrino physics, but the yields are small and the backgrounds from other channels large, e.g., $\sim 10^2$ and $\sim 10^4$ events, respectively, in Super-Kamiokande. We develop a new way to isolate supernova $\nu_e$, using gadolinium-loaded water Cherenkov detectors. The forward-peaked nature of $\nu_e + e^- \rightarrow \nu_e + e^-$ allows an angular cut that contains the majority of events. Even in a narrow cone, near-isotropic inverse beta events, $\bar{\nu}_e + p \rightarrow e^+ + n$, are a large background. With neutron detection by radiative capture on gadolinium, the background events can be individually identified with high efficiency. The remaining backgrounds are smaller and can be measured separately, so they can be statistically subtracted. Super-Kamiokande with gadolinium could measure the total and average energy of supernova $\nu_e$ with $\sim$ $20\%$ precision or better each ($90\%$ C.L.). Hyper-Kamiokande with gadolinium could improve this by a factor of $\sim$ 5. This precision will allow powerful tests of supernova neutrino emission, neutrino mixing, and exotic physics. Unless very large liquid argon or liquid scintillator detectors are built, this is the only way to guarantee precise measurements of supernova $\nu_e$.

Speaker: Dr Ranjan Laha (KIPAC, Stanford University)

Slides 14_Laha.pdf

Break

Multi-detector and multi-flavor prospects

18 DUNE + Hyper-K prospects for SN neutrinos

Speaker: Dr JJ Cherry

Slides 15_Cherry.pdf

19 Dark matter searches

Speaker: Dr Yanou Cui

Slides DUNE_workshop.pdf

Break

Feasibility: Backgrounds and cross sections

20 Spallation backgrounds in water-Cherenkov detectors

Speaker: Dr Shirley Li

Slides 17_Li.pdf

21 Gamma-ray backgrounds for the diffuse SN-neutrino search with water-Cherenkov detectors

Speaker: Dr Artur Ankowski

Slides 18_Ankowski.pdf

22 DISCUSSION: How can we make best use of the argon-water complementarity and what improvements may be helpful?

Summary & going forward