Eur. Phys. J. A (2006) 27: 43-48
https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/i2006-08-005-x

Nuclear Physics in Astrophysics II

On the importance of low-energy beta beams for supernova neutrino physics

¹ Department of Subatomic and Radiation Physics, Ghent University, Proeftuinstraat 86, B-9000, Gent, Belgium
² Department of Physics, North Carolina State University, 27695-8202, Raleigh, NC, USA

^* e-mail: natalie.jachowicz@ugent.be

Received: 17 June 2005
Accepted: 20 December 2005
Published online: 21 February 2006

Abstract

We show that low-energy beta beams are very well suited to obtain information about supernova-neutrino interactions. Linear combinations of low-energy beta-beam spectra are fitted to supernova-neutrino energy distributions. The resulting synthetic spectra are able to reproduce the response of a nuclear target to an incoming supernova neutrino flux in a very accurate way. This can provide important information about the neutrino response in a terrestrial detector. We illustrate this technique using deuterium and ¹⁶O as target material. The procedure provides an easy and straightforward way to apply the results of a beta-beam neutrino-nucleus measurement to a supernova neutrino detector, virtually eliminating potential uncertainties due to nuclear-structure calculations.