Neutrinos from core-collapse supernovae at KM3NeT

Abstract

The SN1987A core-collapse supernova was the first Extragalactic transient source observed through neutrinos. The detection of the 25 associated neutrinos by the Super-Kamiokande, IMB and Baksan experiments marked the beginning of neutrino astronomy. Since then, neutrino telescopes have not been able to make another observation due to the remoteness and low occurrence of the sources. It is therefore essential to optimise the detection channel of sensitive detectors in case of an upcoming Galactic core-collapse supernova. Neutrino observations would, in particular, provide first-hand information about the core-collapse mechanism as well as the behaviour of particles in dense environments. In this contribution, we discuss how the innovative design of the optical modules in the KM3NeT neutrino experiment would allow for the observation of supernova neutrinos. The sensitivity of KM3NeT to Galactic supernovae is presented and its associated online alert system for multi-messenger studies is described. Finally, the ability of KM3NeT to infer the supernova evolution from the time profile of the associated neutrino emission is discussed.