Core-collapse supernovae (SN) stand as some of the most catastrophic yet scientifically vital events in the cosmos, responsible also for disseminating the heavy elements essential for life. While the visible light from these explosions creates a spectacular firework, it often arrives days after the event; in contrast, neutrinos escape the collapsing core almost instantly, carrying about 99% of the emitted energy and serving as the only direct messengers of the explosion mechanism. However, the current state of neutrino astronomy is hindered by a significant technological bottleneck. Traditional detection methods rely heavily on interactions that require massive, kiloton-scale infrastructures to capture a statistically significant signal. These large-scale physics infrastructures, such as Super-Kamiokande, are not only prohibitively complex to build and maintain but also suffer from a fundamental blind spot: they are primarily sensitive to electron antineutrinos. This limitation means that current observatories effectively miss the muon and tau neutrino flavors that constitute the majority of the total flux, thereby offering an incomplete picture of the stellar collapse. Furthermore, existing detectors face risks of signal saturation during nearby galactic events, potentially losing critical data exactly when it is most abundant.
Against this backdrop, the RES-NOVA project proposes a radical shift in detection strategy, moving from massive volumes to high-precision, compact technology. The overarching objective of the project is to design and construct a modular neutrino telescope that exploits Coherent Elastic Neutrino-Nucleus Scattering (CEvNS). Because the probability of this interaction is 4-orders of magnitude higher on heavy nuclei than standard interactions, RES-NOVA aims to achieve detection sensitivities comparable to massive observatories using a target mass of only a few hundred kilograms. The project’s success hinges on a unique synthesis of frontier particle physics and archaeology: the detector utilizes lead (Pb) recovered from ancient Roman shipwrecks. Having been shielded underwater for two millennia, this archaeological Pb has naturally lost its intrinsic radioactivity—specifically the troubling isotope Pb-210—creating the ultra-quiet background environment required to detect the minute thermal signals of neutrino interactions.
Beyond its primary goal of SN detection, RES-NOVA offers a versatile platform for exploring other frontiers in astroparticle physics. The high atomic number of the Pb target, combined with the ultra-low energy threshold (~1 keV) and radiopure environment, makes the detector exceptionally sensitive to Dark Matter (DM) interactions. By exploiting the distinct kinematic properties of Pb and oxygen (O) nuclei within the crystals, RES-NOVA can probe a wide range of DM masses (1-10^4 GeV), potentially exploring new parameter space down to the "neutrino floor" for low-mass WIMPs. Furthermore, the experiment is uniquely positioned to study solar neutrinos or other exotic particles that may be produced in the Sun. This multi-purpose capability ensures that even in the absence of a galactic SN, RES-NOVA will continuously deliver high-impact physics results, serving as a powerful observatory for both the transient and steady-state high-energy cosmic sources.
