Neutrinos from type Ia supernovae: The deflagration-to-detonation transition scenario

It has long been recognized that the neutrinos detected from the next core-collapse supernova in the Galaxy have the potential to reveal important information about the dynamics of the explosion and the nucleosynthesis conditions as well as allowing us to probe the properties of the neutrino itself. The neutrinos emitted from thermonuclear—type Ia—supernovae also possess the same potential, although these supernovae are dimmer neutrino sources. For the first time, we calculate the time, energy, line of sight, and neutrino-flavor-dependent features of the neutrino signal expected from a three-dimensional delayed-detonation explosion simulation, where a deflagration-to-detonation transition triggers the complete disruption of a near-Chandrasekhar mass carbon-oxygen white dwarf. We also calculate the neutrino flavor evolution along eight lines of sight through the simulation as a function of time and energy using an exact three-flavor transformation code. We identify a characteristic spectral peak at $\sim 10\mathrm{MeV}$ as a signature of electron captures on copper. This peak is a potentially distinguishing feature of explosion models since it reflects the nucleosynthesis conditions early in the explosion. We simulate the event rates in the Super-K, Hyper-K, JUNO, and DUNE neutrino detectors with the SNOwGLoBES event rate calculation software and also compute the IceCube signal. Hyper-K will be able to detect neutrinos from our model out to a distance of $\sim 10\mathrm{kpc}$. At 1 kpc, JUNO, Super-K, and DUNE would register a few events while IceCube and Hyper-K would register several tens of events.

Figure 1

Density plot of an $\mathrm{N}100\nu$ model at $t=0.8\mathrm{s}$. The white surface shows the location of the deflagration flame front, separating the nuclear ashes from the fuel.

Figure 2

Total neutrino luminosity from the $\mathrm{N}100\nu$ model as a function of elapsed time. The different colors represent the different nuclear processes that contribute to the luminosity. The points are calculated via NuLib and the lines are those calculated in [67].

Figure 3

Total neutrino luminosity from the $\mathrm{N}100\nu$ model. The curve represents the sum of the NSE contributions from the processes described by Eqs. (1)–(5).

Figure 4

${\nu }_e$ luminosity from electron capture on nuclei for dominant nuclear species for the $t=1.5\mathrm{s}$ time slice. The colored curves represent specific species contributions and the gray curve represents the total contribution from all 8140 species considered by NuLib. The bottom graph plots the error.

Figure 5

Density and $Y_e$ profiles of the $\mathrm{N}100\nu$ model for a particular choice of zenith and azimuth angles.

Figure 6

The matter basis transition probabilities $P_{\mathrm{cr}}^{(\mathrm{m})}(E_{\nu })$ where r and c denote a row and column position in the 3x3 plot grid. The mass ordering is normal and the time slice is for the $t=0.55\mathrm{s}$ time slice. The different colored lines correspond to the different zenith and azimuth angles as given in the legend.

Figure 7

The same as Fig. 6 but for the $t=1\mathrm{s}$ time slice.

Figure 8

The same as Fig. 6 but for the $t=1.3\mathrm{s}$ time slice.

Figure 9

The same as Fig. 6 but for inverted mass ordering and antineutrinos.

Figure 10

The same as Fig. 7 but for inverted mass ordering and antineutrinos.

Figure 11

The same as Fig. 8 but for the inverted mass ordering and antineutrinos.

Figure 12

${\nu }^{(\mathrm{m})}$ survival probability vs energy for a particular choice zenith and azimuth angles.

Figure 13

Turbulentlike effects in the ${\nu }_2^{(\mathrm{m})}$ survival probability at $t=1.5\mathrm{s}$. The upper left panel shows the density of the SN material along the neutrino trajectory defined by the zenith and azimuth angels given in the upper right corner. The gray “H-Res” and “L-Res” bands show the density range corresponding to the high and low MSW resonances for the energy range given. The lower left panel shows how the ${\nu }_2^{(\mathrm{m})}$ survival probability changes with distance from the SN center for a range of energies. The lower right panel shows the ${\nu }_2^{(\mathrm{m})}$ survival probability as a function of neutrino energy as measured after the neutrino has traversed all of the SN material and is now essentially in vacuum. There are fewer points in the lower right panel than are in Fig. 12; these points match the values in the lower left panel where too many points would make the plot unreadable. A normal neutrino mass ordering is assumed.

Figure 14

The effect of discontinuous density on ${\nu }_2^{(\mathrm{m})}$ survival probability at $t=1.5\mathrm{s}$. The structure and layout of the figure is the same as that of Fig. 13.

Figure 15

Oscillatory effects in the ${\nu }_3^{(\mathrm{m})}$ survival probability at $t=1.3\mathrm{s}$. The structure and layout of the figure is the same as that of Fig. 13.

Figure 16

$P_{ee}$ on Earth for different times and trajectories and NMO.

Figure 17

$P_{ee}$ on Earth for different times and trajectories and IMO.

Figure 18

${\overline{P}}_{ee}$ on Earth for different times and trajectories and NMO.

Figure 19

${\overline{P}}_{ee}$ on Earth for different times and trajectories and IMO.

Figure 20

The total oscillated neutrino flux at 10 kpc for the $\mathrm{N}100\nu$ model. The top figure has normal mass ordering and the bottom figure has inverted mass ordering.

Figure 21

The total unoscillated neutrino flux at 10 kpc for the $\mathrm{N}100\nu$ model.

Figure 22

All-channel neutrino interaction counts in 1-MeV bins for a SN Ia at 10 kpc. At the displayed scale, the line-of-sight angle has little effect and the plots are for NMO (left panel) and IMO (right panel). The different colored lines represent the interaction event numbers at the corresponding detector indicated in the legend. The horizontal lines are labeled to indicate how the vertical axis would shift for closer SNe. The plot represents the neutrino event count for the entire $\sim 1.5\mathrm{s}$ neutrino burst.

Figure 23

All-channel, all-energy neutrino interaction rates per 145 ms for a SN Ia at 10 kpc. The plots are for a particular line-of-sight angle; however, at the displayed scale, the line-of-sight angle has little effect. The different colored lines represent the interaction event numbers at the corresponding detector indicated in the legend. The horizontal lines are labeled to indicate how the vertical axis would shift for closer SNe. The left plot is for NMO and the right plot for IMO.

Figure 24

All-channel neutrino event numbers in 1-MeV bins for a SN Ia at 10 kpc. At the displayed scale the line-of-sight angle has little effect and the plots are for NMO (left panel) and IMO (right panel). The different colored lines represent the interaction event rates at the corresponding detector indicated in the legend. The horizontal lines are labeled to indicate how the vertical axis would shift for closer SNe. The plot represents only the last 0.5 s of the neutrino burst where the 10-MeV emission from the iron group nuclei becomes apparent.

Figure 25

Same as Fig. 24 but including the detection rate assuming no neutrino oscillations and using 0.5-MeV bins.

Figure 26

Same as Fig. 24 but with 0.5-MeV bins and smearing. The dark (light) gray is the Hyper-K (DUNE) event count depicted in Fig. 24. Note that the $x$ axis is now the measured energy.

Figure 27

SN Ia event counts in IceCube in 145 ms time bins. All eight trajectories are plotted and the gray shaded bands represent the background plus the denoted $\sigma$ to indicate how many events it would take to be perceived above a statistical fluctuation of the background. The top row is for normal mass ordering and the bottom row is for inverted mass ordering. The left column plots show the predicted number of events for the full 1.5 seconds of the neutrino signal and for sample SNe at 200, 150, and 100 pc. These distances were chosen to illustrate how close a SN would need to be in order for IceCube to observe it with statistical significance. The right column plots show the predicted number of events in the last three time bins where the sample SNe are now at 20, 10, and 6 pc. These distances were chosen to illustrate how close a SN would need to be in order for IceCube to detect the DDT at $\sim 1.3\mathrm{s}$ with statistical significance.

Figure 28

SN Ia interaction event counts per 0.5 MeV per interaction channel in Hyper-K and DUNE. The left plots are for normal mass ordering and the right plots are for inverted mass ordering. The top plots are for Hyper-K and the bottom ones are for DUNE. The event counts are for the full $\sim 1.5\mathrm{s}$ neutrino signal.

Figure 29

SN Ia event counts per 0.5 MeV per interaction channel group in Hyper-K and DUNE. The left plots are for normal mass ordering and the right plots are for inverted mass ordering. The top plots are for Hyper-K and the bottom ones are for DUNE. The event counts are for the full $\sim 1.5\mathrm{s}$ neutrino signal and include energy smearing from the neutrino energy to the measured particle’s energy (the $x$ axis).