Exploring supernova neutrino mass ordering at DUNE via quantum entanglement

TL;DR

This work investigates how quantum entanglement among the three neutrino flavors evolves in a core-collapse supernova and leaves measurable signatures in DUNE signals. By treating the three flavor modes as a tripartite quantum state and quantifying correlations with entanglement of formation, concurrence, and negativity, the authors connect entanglement to survival and transition probabilities that shape observable fluxes. Detector-level simulations using SNOwGLoBES with the Garching SN flux model for the nu_e CC, nubar_e CC, and ES channels show that entanglement can enhance mass ordering sensitivity, extending the reachable SN distance for a 5 sigma determination up to about 21 kpc in favorable channels. The study demonstrates that entanglement based observables provide a complementary framework for probing SN neutrino oscillations and the neutrino mass ordering, with practical implications for DUNE and multi-detector analyses.

Abstract

The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) offers strong sensitivity to neutrinos from a Galactic core collapse supernova, providing a powerful probe of neutrino flavor conversion and the neutrino mass ordering. In this work, we study supernova neutrino oscillations at DUNE using quantum entanglement as an organizing framework. Treating the three flavor neutrino system as an effective multipartite quantum state, we quantify flavor correlations through the entanglement of formation, concurrence, and negativity, expressed directly in terms of flavor survival and transition probabilities. Benchmark scenarios defined by representative variations of the electron neutrino survival probability are constructed for each entanglement measure. Event rates and fluences are computed for a supernova at 10 kpc, and the mass ordering sensitivity is evaluated using detector-level simulations performed with the \texttt{SNOwGLoBES} framework, employing the Garching supernova flux model and including the dominant detection channels in liquid argon: $ν_e$ and $\barν_e$ charged-current interactions on argon and elastic scattering on electrons. We analyze both individual and combined detection channels and incorporate $5\%$ normalization and energy calibration systematic uncertainties. Our results show that DUNE achieves a $5σ$ determination of the neutrino mass ordering for a supernova at distances of $\sim 20$~kpc for the $ν_e$ charged current channel and $\sim 2$~kpc for the $\barν_e$ channel, with the reach depending on the entanglement scenario considered. These results demonstrate that entanglement based observables provide a complementary and robust framework for probing supernova neutrino oscillations and the neutrino mass ordering.

Figures (11)

• Figure 1: Entanglement measures as functions of the electron neutrino survival probability $P_{ee}$: Entanglement of formation EOF$^{e}$ (top left), squared concurrence $(C^{e})^{2}$ (top right), and negativity $N^{e}$ (bottom).
• Figure 2: Energy-dependent cross sections for the dominant supernova neutrino interaction channels in liquid argon.
• Figure 3: Fluence of $\nu_e$ (left panels) and $\bar{\nu}_e$ (right panels) as functions of neutrino energy for a supernova at a distance of 10 kpc. The upper, middle, and bottom panels correspond to the entanglement of formation, concurrence, and negativity cases, respectively. Solid lines denote the fluence for NH, while dashed lines represent the IH. Different colors correspond to different benchmark values of the survival probability ($\Delta p)$.
• Figure 4: Event rates of $\nu_e$ as functions of reconstructed energy for the entanglement of formation (upper panels), concurrence (middle panels), and negativity (bottom panels). The left and right panels show the unsmeared and smeared event rates, respectively. All results correspond to Channel A, i.e., the $\nu_e$ charged-current interaction on argon at DUNE.
• Figure 5: Same as Fig. \ref{['fig:eventrates-channel-A']}, but for the event rates of $\bar{\nu}_e$ corresponding to Channel B, i.e., the $\bar{\nu}_e$ charged-current interaction on argon at DUNE.