Gravitational Lensing of Supernova Neutrino Bursts

Abstract

Supernova neutrino bursts have been observed from extragalactic distances. This note addresses the question of how gravitational lensing could distort the information in the burst. We apply the gravitational lens hypothesis to try to understand the time and brightness structure of the SN1987A neutrino observations. Estimates of a possible lensing mass and alignment are made. These estimates suggest a path to verification.

Comments: 13 pages, 4 figures, 1 table Revision to add a citation to work by Barrow and Subramanian 1987, who also found this interpretation for the time structure