On the importance of low-energy beta beams for supernova neutrino physics

Abstract

We show that low-energy beta beams are very well suited to obtain information about supernova-neutrino interactions. Linear combinations of low-energy beta-beam spectra are fitted to supernova-neutrino energy distributions. The resulting synthetic spectra are able to reproduce the response of a nuclear target to an incoming supernova neutrino flux in a very accurate way. This can provide important information about the neutrino response in a terrestrial detector. We illustrate this technique using deuterium and 16O as target material. The procedure provides an easy and straightforward way to apply the results of a beta-beam neutrino-nucleus measurement to a supernova neutrino detector, virtually eliminating potential uncertainties due to nuclear-structure calculations.