WoU-MMA: Collaborative Research: A Next-Generation SuperNova Early Warning System for Multimessenger Astronomy

When a massive star reaches the end of its life, the core of the star collapses, producing a supernova. While visually spectacular, less than 1% of the energy in the supernova is released as visible light or as kinetic energy in the surrounding environment. Most of the energy from the supernova is carried away by neutrinos produced during the collapse of the core. In contrast to photons, neutrinos interact only very weakly with matter. They can therefore stream out of the supernova explosion without delay and thus arrive at Earth minutes to hours before the optical explosion may be visible. Detecting the first neutrinos from a supernova therefore provides an early alert to trigger further observations. The SuperNova Early Warning System (SNEWS) is a network of neutrino detectors around the world designed to provide automated early alerts for supernovae in our galaxy. While rare, a galactic supernova would provide a unique opportunity to study the physics of core-collapse supernova, as well as the properties of neutrinos. Alerts from SNEWS will enable observations of the earliest phases of the supernova for physicists and astronomers around the world. The SNEWS project works to engage amateur astronomers by involving them in this science, as they play an important role in optical observations of supernova.

This award supports a collaborative group from several institutions to upgrade the existing SNEWS real-time alert system to include new detectors, and to prepare to better exploit the collective capabilities of these detectors. The team will model neutrino light curves and use those models to evaluate the expected signals in all available neutrino detectors. They will develop optimal methods for prompt determination of the supernova direction using both neutrino interaction anisotropies, as well as inter-experiment triangulation algorithms which will be based on relative observed timing of the neutrino signals. Prompt directional information will sharply improve the likelihood to detect the early onset of the light curve in multiple channels. This is crucial not only for the understanding of supernova explosions, but also for many other areas of physics including astrophysics, nuclear physics, and particle physics. Finally they will develop pre-supernova alerts based on the observation of the uptick in neutrino production that accompanies the final burning stages of a doomed star. This proposal also supports involvement of the amateur astronomy community in this exciting area of research, the creation of a topical planetarium show, as well as a smartphone app for use in education and alert dissemination.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.