Mass signature of supernova $\nu_\mu$ and $\nu_\tau$ neutrinos in the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory

Abstract

Core-collapse supernovae emit of order $10^{58}$ neutrinos and antineutrinos of all flavors over several seconds, with average energies of 10--25 MeV. In the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO), which begins operations this year, neutrinos and antineutrinos of all flavors can be detected by reactions which break up the deuteron. For a future Galactic supernova at a distance of 10 kpc, several hundred events will be observed in SNO. The $\nu_\mu$ and $\nu_\tau$ neutrinos and antineutrinos are of particular interest, as a test of the supernova mechanism. In addition, it is possible to measure or limit their masses by their delay (determined from neutral-current events) relative to the $\bar{\nu}_e$ neutrinos (determined from charged-current events). Numerical results are presented for such a future supernova as seen in SNO. Under reasonable assumptions, and in the presence of the expected counting statistics, a $\nu_\mu$ or $\nu_\tau$ mass down to about 30 eV can be simply and robustly determined. If zero delay is measured, then the mass limit is independent of the distance $D$. At present, this seems to be the best possibility for direct determination of a $\nu_\mu$ or $\nu_\tau$ mass within the cosmologically interesting range. We also show how to separately study the supernova and neutrino physics, and how changes in the assumed supernova parameters would affect the mass sensitivity.