Detecting high-energy neutrinos, elusive particles, has historically posed challenges. However, recent research showcased in Physical Review D and The Astrophysical Journal Letters suggests that nearby supernovae, particularly Galactic ones, could serve as promising sources of these rare particles. This revelation has sparked investigations into using large particle collider detectors, like CERN’s ATLAS detector, to detect neutrinos originating from such sources.
Researchers from Harvard University, University of Nevada, and Pennsylvania State University have demonstrated that the ATLAS detector can effectively measure the flux of high-energy supernova neutrinos. Their findings, published in Physical Review Letters, could inspire future endeavors aimed at detecting these neutrino fluxes.
The study, led by Kohta Murase and his colleagues, leverages known neutrino-nucleon cross sections, the ATLAS detector’s mass, and expected neutrino flux from supernovae to estimate the number of neutrinos interacting directly in the detector. By accounting for neutrinos interacting outside the detector, the team utilized sophisticated software to model these events, allowing for the estimation of neutrino signal events.
The researchers concluded that despite limited statistics, the ATLAS detector at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) could discern neutrino flavors and discriminate between neutrinos and antineutrinos. This underscores the unique capabilities of collider detectors like ATLAS in studying astrophysical neutrinos.
The paper underscores the potential of ATLAS and similar collider detectors in detecting high-energy neutrinos from galactic supernovae, potentially providing new insights into these rare particles. Moving forward, the researchers plan to explore how other collider detectors could contribute to observing high-energy neutrinos and delve into implications for physics beyond the Standard Model.
