Mass hierarchy effects in supernova neutrinos

• Grant number: 22/01568-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate (Direct)
• Start date: July 01, 2022
• End date: June 30, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Physics - Elementary Particle Physics and Fields
• Principal Investigator: Pedro Cunha de Holanda
• Grantee: Pedro Dedin Neto
• Host Institution: Instituto de Física Gleb Wataghin (IFGW). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 22/09421-8 - Collective effects in supernova neutrinos, BE.EP.DD

Abstract

In the standard model of particle physics, neutrinos are described as massless particles. However, due to the phenomenon of flavor oscillation, we know today that neutrinos have mass, one of the most evident evidence of physics beyond the standard model. Despite this fact, we still do not know the absolute value of the neutrinos masses, nor which one is the heaviest, known as the neutrino mass hierarchy. Among the natural sources of neutrinos, we have supernovae, which are the explosion of massive stars at their final stage due to gravitational collapse. In this process, about 99% of the star's gravitational binding energy is emitted in the form of neutrinos. Due to the astronomical amount of neutrinos, it is possible to detect them in the Earth for supernovae happening in our galaxy or its neighborhood. Although the expected supernova rate in this range of detection is about some per century, a significant number of experiments have in their program the possible detection of neutrinos coming from a supernova. In this context, this project aims to understand the role of neutrino mass hierarchy in these future detections, which is relevant both for neutrino and supernova physics. The main obstacle is that we do not know exactly how the neutrino flavor conversion happens inside a supernova, mostly due to collective effects generated by neutrino-neutrino interactions. Therefore, one of our goals is to contribute with a better understanding of the flavor conversion mechanism, focusing on the neutrino mass hierarchy. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

DEDIN NETO, PEDRO; DOS SANTOS, MARCOS V.; DE HOLANDA, PEDRO CUNHA; KEMP, ERNESTO. SN1987A neutrino burst: limits on flavor conversion. EUROPEAN PHYSICAL JOURNAL C, v. 83, n. 6, p. 13-pg., 2023-06-02. (19/08956-2, 22/01568-0, 14/19164-6)

DOS SANTOS, MARCOS V.; DE HOLANDA, PEDRO C.; NETO, PEDRO DEDIN; KEMP, ERNESTO. Effects of quantum decoherence in a future supernova neutrino detection. PHYSICAL REVIEW D, v. 108, n. 10, p. 22-pg., 2023-11-17. (22/01568-0, 14/19164-6, 19/08956-2)