Abstract
We study the ratio of neutrino-proton elastic scattering to inverse beta decay event counts, measurable in a scintillation detector like JUNO, as a key observable for identifying the explosion mechanism of a galactic core-collapse supernova. If the supernova is not powered by the core but rather, e.g., by collapse-induced thermonuclear explosion, then a prolonged period of accretion-dominated neutrino luminosity is predicted. Using 1D numerical simulations, we show that the distinct resulting flavour composition of the neutrino burst can be tested in JUNO with high significance, overcoming theoretical uncertainties in the progenitor star profile and equation of state.
Highlights
How do core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe) explode? A popular belief is that the explosion follows the delayed neutrino mechanism (DνM) [1,2,3,4]
The end result of our analysis is that with a realistic treatment of all of these effects, in the event of a galactic CCSN JUNO could identify fe ≳ 2 from fe ∼ 1, with high significance
We find that all of the other issues, including the theoretical uncertainty in progenitor star properties and EoS, are under control, in the sense that accretion-dominated neutrino emission leads to robust predictions and can be distinguished from proto-neutron star (PNS) cooling
Summary
How do core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe) explode? A popular belief is that the explosion follows the delayed neutrino mechanism (DνM) [1,2,3,4]. The end result of our analysis is that with a realistic treatment of all of these effects, in the event of a galactic CCSN JUNO could identify fe ≳ 2 (predicted in CITE throughout the neutrino burst for t ≳ 0.3 sec postbounce) from fe ∼ 1 (predicted in the simple PNS cooling limit, which could characterize the DνM once explosion starts), with high significance. This demonstrates the limitations of the simple PNS cooling prescription, implying that our analysis cannot test the DνM at the same level of robustness by which it can test CITE
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