Prospects for the detection of the Diffuse Supernova Neutrino Background with the experiments SK-Gd and JUNO

Understand

The advent of gadolinium-loaded Super-Kamiokande (SK-Gd) and of the soon-to-start JUNO liquid scintillator detector marks a substantial improvement in the global sensitivity for the Diffuse Supernova Neutrino Background (DSNB).

• The present article reviews the detector properties most relevant for the DSNB searches in both experiments and estimates the expected signal and background levels.
• Based on these inputs, we evaluate the sensitivity of both experiments individually and combined.
• Using a simplified statistical approach, we find that both SK-Gd and JUNO have the potential to reach $>$3$\sigma$ evidence of the DSNB signal within 10 years of measurement.