arXiv subjects

Erick Urquilla

Publications and source records attributed to Erick Urquilla.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Testing common approximations of neutrino fast flavor conversion

A new chapter is opening in the theory of core-collapse supernovae and neutron star mergers as simulations of these events begin to incorporate fast flavor conversion (FFC) and other forms of neutrino flavor mixing. Using numerical experiments, we show that the approximations of FFC that have been implemented so far are limited by at least two of three factors: (1) approximating continuous evolution as a discrete sequence of instabilities, (2) using spatially homogeneous asymptotic states, and (3) assuming that FFC must be accompanied by instability. The factors we identify in this work will be important considerations as the research area progresses from initial exploratory studies to more quantitatively precise assessments.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2026

Neutrino transport and flavor instabilities in a post-merger disk

Neutron star mergers are multimessenger sources whose dynamics and signals depend critically on neutrinos and their flavor transformations. We investigate whether fast and collisional neutrino flavor instabilities (FFIs and CFIs) arise in a GW170817-like post-merger accretion disk, and how they develop and relax, by performing global and local classical and quantum-kinetic simulations that resolve anisotropies and inhomogeneities in the full six-dimensional phase space. In the accretion disk, the neutrino radiation field naturally develops electron-lepton-number crossings through the interplay between the more isotropic electron neutrino field and the more anisotropic electron antineutrino field. The neutrino field in the disk is also unstable to CFI, although on longer timescales than the FFI. Using local, multi-energy quantum-kinetic calculations at selected points, we find that the growth of unstable modes is well-predicted by a fully anisotropic linear stability analysis and the flavor transformation increases the heavy lepton neutrino fluxes. CFI likewise enhances heavy-flavor fluxes, shows significant impacts from the growth of multi-energy anisotropic modes, and breaks the symmetry of the heavy-flavor sector by raising the average energy of heavy-flavor antineutrinos above that of heavy-flavor neutrinos. However, the CFI remains subdominant to the FFI in most of the disk. In our global quantum-kinetic simulations with an attenuated Hamiltonian, flavor coherence develops primarily in the polar regions. Because the attenuation causes advection to outpace the growth of the instabilities, coherence and flavor conversion remain artificially suppressed within the disk. These results emphasize the resolution and scaling requirements for future global simulations that capture instability growth, saturation, and advection simultaneously.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2026

Chaos in Inhomogeneous Neutrino Fast Flavor Instability

In dense neutrino gases, the neutrino-neutrino coherent forward scattering gives rise to a complex flavor oscillation phenomenon not fully incorporated in simulations of neutron star mergers (NSM) and core collapse supernovae (CCSNe). Moreover, it has been proposed to be chaotic, potentially limiting our ability to predict neutrino flavor transformations in simulations. To address this issue, we explore how small flavor perturbations evolve in the non-linear regime of the neutrino quantum kinetic equation within a narrow centimeter-scale region inside a NSM and a toy neutrino distribution. Our findings reveal that paths in the flavor state space of solutions with similar initial conditions diverge exponentially, exhibiting chaos. This inherent chaos makes the microscopic scales of neutrino flavor transformations unpredictable. However, the domain-averaged neutrino density matrix remains relatively stable, with chaos minimally affecting it. This particular property suggests that domain-averaged quantities remain reliable despite the exponential amplification of errors.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2025

Equivalence of Dark Energy Models: A Theoretical and Bayesian Perspective

We explore the background equivalence among three dark energy models by constructing explicit mappings between dynamical dark energy (DDE), interacting dark energy (IDE), and running vacuum (RV). In our approach, the dark sector functions that characterize each model-such as the equation of state parameter $\bar{w}(a)$ for DDE, the interaction term $Q$ for IDE, and the functional form $Λ(H)$ for RV-are transformed into one another under specific assumptions. Extending previous work by von Marttens et al. (2020), we demonstrate that running vacuum models, characterized by $Λ(H) = a_0 + a_1 \dot{H} + a_2 H^2$, can be reinterpreted as an interacting dark energy model with $Q = 3Hγ\hatρ_c$, which in turn is equivalent to a dynamic dark energy model with an appropriately defined $\bar{w}(a)$. Using Bayesian analysis with Type Ia supernovae, Baryon Acoustic Oscillations, and Cosmic Chronometers, our observational constraints confirm that these theoretical equivalences hold at the background level. This study underscores the importance of seeking convergence in dark energy models, facilitating a better understanding of the dark sector.

astro-ph.CO↗