• Media type: E-Article
  • Title: Pre-supernova Alert System for Super-Kamiokande
  • Contributor: Machado, L. N.; Abe, K.; Hayato, Y.; Hiraide, K.; Ieki, K.; Ikeda, M.; Kameda, J.; Kanemura, Y.; Kaneshima, R.; Kashiwagi, Y.; Kataoka, Y.; Miki, S.; Mine, S.; Miura, M.; Moriyama, S.; Nakano, Y.; Nakahata, M.; Nakayama, S.; Noguchi, Y.; Okamoto, K.; Sato, K.; Sekiya, H.; Shiba, H.; Shimizu, K.; [...]
  • Published: American Astronomical Society, 2022
  • Published in: The Astrophysical Journal, 935 (2022) 1, Seite 40
  • Language: Not determined
  • DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/ac7f9c
  • ISSN: 0004-637X; 1538-4357
  • Origination:
  • Footnote:
  • Description: Abstract In 2020, the Super-Kamiokande (SK) experiment moved to a new stage (SK-Gd) in which gadolinium (Gd) sulfate octahydrate was added to the water in the detector, enhancing the efficiency to detect thermal neutrons and consequently improving the sensitivity to low energy electron anti-neutrinos from inverse beta decay (IBD) interactions. SK-Gd has the potential to provide early alerts of incipient core-collapse supernovae through detection of electron anti-neutrinos from thermal and nuclear processes responsible for the cooling of massive stars before the gravitational collapse of their cores. These pre-supernova neutrinos emitted during the silicon burning phase can exceed the energy threshold for IBD reactions. We present the sensitivity of SK-Gd to pre-supernova stars and the techniques used for the development of a pre-supernova alarm based on the detection of these neutrinos in SK, as well as prospects for future SK-Gd phases with higher concentrations of Gd. For the current SK-Gd phase, high-confidence alerts for Betelgeuse could be issued up to 9 hr in advance of the core collapse itself.
  • Access State: Open Access