Abstract
Electron-neutrino charged-current interactions with xenon nuclei were modeled in the nEXO neutrinoless double-β decay detector (∼5 metric ton, 90% Xe136, 10% Xe134) to evaluate its sensitivity to supernova neutrinos. Predictions for event rates and detectable signatures were modeled using the Model of Argon Reaction Low Energy Yields (MARLEY) event generator. We find good agreement between MARLEY's predictions and existing theoretical calculations of the inclusive cross sections at supernova neutrino energies. The interactions modeled by MARLEY were simulated within the nEXO simulation framework and were run through an example reconstruction algorithm to determine the detector's efficiency for reconstructing these events. The simulated data, incorporating the detector response, were used to study the ability of nEXO to reconstruct the incident electron-neutrino spectrum and these results were extended to a larger xenon detector of the same isotope enrichment. We estimate that nEXO will be able to observe electron-neutrino interactions with xenon from supernovae as far as 5-8 kpc from Earth, while the ability to reconstruct incident electron-neutrino spectrum parameters from observed interactions in nEXO is limited to closer supernovae.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 093002 |
Journal | Physical Review D |
Volume | 110 |
Issue number | 9 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Nov 1 2024 |
Funding
We would like to thank the authors of Ref. , for providing their calculations of the GT strength used in this publication, and Steven Gardiner for his continued development and support of the MARLEY event generator. The authors gratefully acknowledge support for nEXO from the Office of Nuclear Physics within DOE\u2019s Office of Science, and NSF in the U.S.; from NSERC, CFI, FRQNT, NRC, and the McDonald Institute (CFREF) in Canada; from IBS in Korea; and from CAS and NSFC in China. This work was supported in part by Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) programs at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract No. DE-AC52-07NA27344.