Timing the neutrino signal of a Galactic supernova

Abstract

We study several methods for timing the neutrino signal of a Galactic supernova (SN) for different detectors via Monte Carlo simulations. We find that, for the methods we studied, at a distance of 10 kpc both Hyper-Kamiokande and IceCube can reach precisions of ∼1 ms for the neutrino burst, while a potential IceCube Gen2 upgrade will reach submillisecond precision. In the case of a failed SN, we find that detectors such as SK and JUNO can reach precisions of ∼0.1 ms while HK could potentially reach a resolution of ∼0.01 ms so that the impact of the black hole formation process itself becomes relevant. Two possible applications for this are the triangulation of a (failed) SN as well as the possibility to constrain neutrino masses via a time-of-flight measurement using a potential gravitational wave signal as reference.