Exploring Supernova Electron-Neutrino Interactions with Xenon in the nEXO Detector

This study focuses on modeling electron-neutrino interactions with xenon nuclei at supernova energies, specifically to investigate the sensitivity of the nEXO detector to nearby core-collapse supernovae (CCSNs). The predicted distribution of particles produced by charged-current neutrino-nucleus interactions were generated using the MARLEY event generator and a combination of theoretical and measured matrix elements. These resulting particles were simulated in the nEXO detector to determine its response and to evaluate its sensitivity to nearby supernovae. Our findings suggest that nEXO has the capability to observe such interactions from hundreds of nearby supernova candidates. Furthermore, utilizing the modeled detector response, nEXO can reconstruct the incident electron neutrino spectrum for nearby supernovae, providing insight into the CCSN dynamics. This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344.