Probing supernova physics with neutrino oscillations

Abstract

We point out that solar neutrino oscillations with large mixing angle as evidenced in current solar neutrino data have a strong impact on strategies for diagnosing collapse-driven supernova (SN) through neutrino observations. Such oscillations induce a significant deformation of the energy spectra of neutrinos, thereby allowing us to obtain otherwise inaccessible features of SN neutrino spectra. We demonstrate that one can determine temperatures and luminosities of non-electron flavor neutrinos by observing (υ) over bar (e) from galactic SN in massive water Cherenkov detectors by the charged current reactions on protons. (C) 2002 Elsevier B.V. B.V. All rights reserved.