  We calculate the luminosity and energy spectrum of the neutrino emission from
electron-positron pair annihilation during the collapse of a supermassive star
(${M} \ga 5\times10^4 {M_\odot}$). We then estimate the cumulative flux and
energy spectrum of the resulting neutrino background as a function of the
abundance and redshift of supermassive stars and the efficiency of these
objects in converting gravitational energy into neutrino energy. We estimate
the expected signal in some of the new generation of astrophysical neutrino
detectors from both a cumulative background of supermassive stars and single
collapse events associated with these objects.

Astrophysics;High Energy Physics - Phenomenology