Supernova neutrino detection in XENONnT neutron and muon Vetoes

Abstract

The current phase of the XENON Dark Matter Project, named XENONnT, will be operative in 2020 in the underground Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS). It is a multi-ton detector for direct search of Dark Matter, consisting of a double phase liquid-gas xenon Time Projection Chamber (TPC) which contains 5.9 tons of liquid xenon target mass, inserted in a cryostat surrounded by a tank containing 700 tons of water doped with Gd sulphate. Its aim, as that of its precursor XENON1T, is to detect elastic scattering of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) off xenon nuclei. The presence of two Veto sub-systems, the muon Veto instrumented with 84 photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) and the neutron Veto with other 120 PMTs, allows to reduce the background for WIMPs search through muon and neutron tagging, while the presence of Gd sulphate increases the neutron capture cross section. Thanks to the large xenon target used and the presence of the two Vetoes, XENONnT will be able also to detect all flavours of Supernova neutrinos. Here the results from Monte Carlo simulations of XENONnT detection efficiency are presented for Supernova neutrinos through their inverse beta decay interactions in water of the two Veto sub-systems.