Supernova Studies at ORLaND

Abstract

A new facility to measure neutrino mass differences and mixing angles and neutrino-nucleus cross sections, such as the proposed ORLaND facility at Oak Ridge, would contribute to the experimental determination of vacuum mixing parameters and would provide an experimental foundation for the many neutrino-nucleus weak interaction rates needed in supernova models. This would enable more realistic supernova models and a far greater ability to cull fundamental physics from these models by comparing them with detailed observations. Charged- and neutral-current neutrino interactions on nuclei in the stellar core play a central role in supernova dynamics, nucleosynthesis, and neutrino detection. Measurements of these reactions on select, judiciously chosen targets would provide an invaluable test of the complex theoretical models used to compute the neutrino-nucleus cross sections.