OMNIS, The Observatory for Multiflavor NeutrInos from Supernovae

Alexander Murphy, Richard Boyd

Research output: Contribution to conferencePaper

Abstract / Description of output

OMNIS, the Observatory for Multiflavor NeutrInos from Supernovae will consist of 8 kT of lead and 4 kT of iron which, when irradiated by neutrinos from a supernova, will produce secondary neutrons. Detection of the neutrons in gadolinium loaded liquid scintillators will then signal the arrival of the supernova neutrinos. A supernova at the center of the Galaxy, will produce about 2000 events in OMNIS, mostly from neutral current interactions, thus providing statistically significant tests of the energies and emission time profiles of core-collapse supernova models. Additionally, OMNIS' combination of lead and iron modules gives it sensitivity to several neutrino oscillation scenarios, especially the type ν_μ/τ rightarrow ν_e. Its intrinsic timing capability, better than 1 ms, gives it the capability to measure neutrino mass from the time-of-flight shifts in the luminosity curves of the different neutrino flavors, to about 20 eV/c^2. OMNIS will also be able to detect differences in the luminosity cutoffs of the different flavors in the event of a fairly prompt collapse to a black hole, which might allow charting out of the neutrinospheres and other diagnostics, and a better measurement of neutrino mass ( ~3 eV/c^2).
Original languageEnglish
Publication statusPublished - 1 Oct 2001
EventAmerican Physical Society, First Joint Meeting of the Nuclear Physicists of the American and Japanese Physical Societies - Hawaii, Maui, United States
Duration: 17 Oct 200120 Oct 2001

Conference

ConferenceAmerican Physical Society, First Joint Meeting of the Nuclear Physicists of the American and Japanese Physical Societies
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityMaui
Period17/10/0120/10/01

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