Neutrino Trapping and Neutrino Mass Bounds

Abstract

It has been shown recently that the exchange of virtual neutrino pairs leads to an unphysically large energy-density in neutron stars and white dwarfs, unless neutrinos have a minimum mass, m > 0.4 eV. Here we consider the possibility that the presence of trapped low-energy neutrinos can suppress the exchange of virtual neutrino pairs, thereby avoiding a large energy-density even for massless neutrinos. We show that a) there can be subvolumes in a neutron star or white dwarf where neutrino-trapping does not take place, and which can thus have an unphysically large energy density, and b) even in those volumes where trapping does occur, the resulting suppression can be too small to alter the conclusion that neutrinos must have a minimum mass.