The Sensitivity of the LUX-ZEPLIN Experiment to Neutrinos from Galactic Core-Collapse Supernovae

The LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment is a low-threshold low-background dark matter detector deployed at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in Lead, South Dakota. LZ's central volume is a time projection chamber (TPC) containing 7 tonnes of liquid xenon in the active volume. LZ is sensitive to coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CE$\nu$NS), a weak-neutral interaction producing $\mathcal{O}(1)$ keV nuclear recoils in the TPC. Via CE$\nu$NS, LZ will detect neutrinos emitted by the next galactic core-collapse supernova (CCSN).

To model LZ's response to the neutrino signal from a CCSN, we have developed $\nu$ESPER: the Neutrino Engine Simulating the Process of Energetic Recoils. We present the architecture of $\nu$ESPER and show results for a 27~M$_\odot$ CCSN progenitor. We explore the rate of CE$\nu$NS interactions from this progenitor and make comparisons to the rate of charged-current and neutrino-electron elastic scattering interactions in the TPC.

Using $\nu$ESPER and the Noble Element Simulation Technique (NEST), we study LZ's CE$\nu$NS detection efficiency. We examine the impact of a variety of analysis strategies on CCSN sensitivity, and show predictions of the CE$\nu$NS interaction rate as a function of progenitor distance.