Collective effects in supernova neutrinos

• Grant number: 22/09421-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate (Direct)
• Start date: November 07, 2022
• End date: November 06, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Physics - Elementary Particle Physics and Fields
• Principal Investigator: Ernesto Kemp
• Grantee: Pedro Dedin Neto
• Supervisor: Irene Tamborra
• Host Institution: Instituto de Física Gleb Wataghin (IFGW). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Copenhagen, Denmark
• Associated to the scholarship: 22/01568-0 - Mass hierarchy effects in supernova neutrinos, BP.DD

Abstract

When a neutrino is emitted from a supernova, it changes its initial flavor as it propagates through the supernova. However, we still do not have a clear theoretical picture of the flavor conversion mechanism, mostly due to neutrino-neutrino interactions. When these interactions are included the evolution equation becomes nonlinear, resulting in a collective evolution of the neutrinos. Among the resulting phenomena, we have slow and fast flavor conversions. The first happens at the time scale of the neutrino vacuum oscillation frequencies É. The last, more recently explored, happens at the time scale of the neutrino-neutrino potential ¼, and emerges from models that present electron lepton number crossing in the angular distribution of neutrinos. Both phenomena emerge from the same evolution equation and yet no complete description of both and their interplay has been developed, remaining a mystery their consequences in a supernova. In this context, this project aims to explore and understand better this interplay, together with its consequences for supernova neutrinos. (AU)