The diffuse supernova neutrino flux, supernova rate and SN1987A
Abstract
I calculate the diffuse flux of electron antineutrinos from all supernovae using the information on the neutrino spectrum from SN987A and the information on the rate of supernovae from direct supernova observations. The interval of flux allowed at 99 % confidence level is 0.05 - 0.35 cm^-2 s ^-1 above the SuperKamiokande (SK) energy cut of 19.3 MeV. This result is at least a factor of 4 smaller than the current SK upper limit of 1.2 cm^-2 s ^-1, thus motivating the experimental efforts to lower the detection energy threshold or to upgrade to higher volumes. A Megaton water Cherenkov detector with 90 % efficiency would record 2 - 44 inverse beta decay events a year depending on the energy cut.
Cite
@article{arxiv.astro-ph/0509233,
title = {The diffuse supernova neutrino flux, supernova rate and SN1987A},
author = {Cecilia Lunardini},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:astro-ph/0509233},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
LaTeX, 28 pages, 8 figures. Major improvements: qualitative arguments replaced with full statistical analysis; direct measurements of the supernova rate used; title slightly modified for consistency and figures added. Noticeable changes in the results