arXiv subjects

G. G. Raffelt

Publications and source records attributed to G. G. Raffelt.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2003

Supernova neutrinos: Flavor-dependent fluxes and spectra

Transporting nu_mu and nu_tau in a supernova (SN) core involves several processes that have been neglected in traditional simulations. Based on a Monte Carlo study we find that the flavor-dependent spectral differences are much smaller than is often stated in the literature. A full-scale SN simulation using a Boltzmann solver and including all relevant neutrino reactions confirms these results. The flavor-dependent flux differences are largest during the initial accretion phase.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2003

Neutrinos in Physics and Astrophysics

The observed flavor oscillations of solar and atmospheric neutrinos determine several elements of the leptonic mixing matrix, but leave open the small mixing angle Theta_13, a possible CP-violating phase, the mass ordering, the absolute mass scale m_nu, and the Dirac vs. Majorana property. Progress will be made by long-baseline, tritium endpoint, and 2-beta decay experiments. The best constraint on m_nu obtains from cosmological precision observables, implying that neutrinos contribute very little to the dark matter. However, massive Majorana neutrinos may well be responsible for ordinary matter by virtue of the leptogenesis mechanism for creating the baryon asymmetry of the universe. In future, neutrinos could play an important role as astrophysical messengers if point sources are discovered in high-energy neutrino telescopes. In the low-energy range, a high-statistics observation of a galactic supernova would allow one to observe directly the dynamics of stellar collapse and perhaps to discriminate between certain mixing scenarios. An observation of the relic neutrinos from all past supernovae has come within reach.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2002

Astrophysical and Cosmological Neutrinos

We review the role of massive neutrinos in astrophysics and cosmology, assuming that the oscillation interpretation of solar and atmospheric neutrinos is correct. In particular, we discuss cosmological mass limits, neutrino flavor oscillations in the early universe, leptogenesis, and neutrinos in core-collapse supernovae.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2002

Neutrino Masses in Astroparticle Physics

The case for small neutrino mass differences from atmospheric and solar neutrino oscillation experiments has become compelling, but leaves the overall neutrino mass scale m_nu undetermined. The most restrictive limit of m_nu < 0.8 eV arises from the 2dF galaxy redshift survey in conjunction with the standard theory of cosmological structure formation. A relation between the hot dark matter fraction and m_nu depends on the cosmic number density n_nu of neutrinos. If solar neutrino oscillations indeed correspond to the favored large mixing angle MSW solution, then big-bang nucleosynthesis gives us a restrictive limit on all neutrino chemical potentials, removing the previous uncertainty of n_nu. Therefore, a possible future measurement of m_nu will directly establish the cosmic neutrino mass fraction Omega_nu. Cosmological neutrinos with sub-eV masses can play an interesting role for producing the highest-energy cosmic rays (Z-burst scenario). Sub-eV masses also relate naturally to leptogenesis scenarios of the cosmic baryon asymmetry. Unfortunately, the time-of-flight dispersion of a galactic or local-group supernova neutrino burst is not sensitive in the sub-eV range.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2002

Stars and Fundamental Physics

Stars are powerful sources for weakly interacting particles that are produced by nuclear or plasma processes in their hot interior. These fluxes can be used for direct measurements (e.g. solar or supernova neutrinos) or the back-reaction on the star can be used to derive limits on new particles. We discuss two examples of current interest, the search for solar axions by the CAST experiment at CERN and stellar-evolution limits on the size of putative large extra dimensions.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2002

Cosmological bounds on neutrino degeneracy improved by flavor oscillations

We study three-flavor neutrino oscillations in the early universe in the presence of neutrino chemical potentials. We take into account all effects from the background medium, i.e. collisional damping, the refractive effects from charged leptons, and in particular neutrino self-interactions that synchronize the neutrino oscillations. We find that effective flavor equilibrium between all active neutrino species is established well before the big-bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) epoch if the neutrino oscillation parameters are in the range indicated by the atmospheric neutrino data and by the large mixing angle (LMA) MSW solution of the solar neutrino problem. For the other solutions of the solar neutrino problem, partial flavor equilibrium may be achieved if the angle theta_13 is close to the experimental limit tan^2(theta_13)<0.065. In the LMA case, the BBN limit on the nu_e degeneracy parameter, |xi_nu|< 0.07, now applies to all flavors. Therefore, a putative extra cosmic radiation contribution from degenerate neutrinos is limited to such low values that it is neither observable in the large-scale structure of the universe nor in the anisotropies of the cosmic microwave background radiation. Existing limits and possible future measurements, for example in KATRIN, of the absolute neutrino mass scale will provide unambiguous information on the cosmic neutrino mass density, essentially free of the uncertainty of the neutrino chemical. potentials.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2002

Physics of Synchronized Neutrino Oscillations Caused by Self-Interactions

In the early universe or in some regions of supernovae, the neutrino refractive index is dominated by the neutrinos themselves. Several previous studies have found numerically that these self-interactions have the effect of coupling different neutrino modes in such a way as to synchronize the flavor oscillations which otherwise would depend on the energy of a given mode. We provide a simple explanation for this baffling phenomenon in analogy to a system of magnetic dipoles which are coupled by their self-interactions to form one large magnetic dipole which then precesses coherently in a weak external magnetic field. In this picture the synchronized neutrino oscillations are perfectly analogous to the weak-field Zeeman effect in atoms.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2002

Physics with Supernovae

Core-collapse supernovae (SNe) are powerful neutrino sources and as such important targets for the growing array of neutrino observatories. We review the current status of SN theory and the expected characteristics of the neutrino signal. After recalling what we have learned from SN 1987A and general SN properties we review the physics potential of a future galactic SN observation.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2001

Mu- and Tau-Neutrino Spectra Formation in Supernovae

The mu- and tau-neutrinos emitted from a proto-neutron star are produced by nucleonic bremsstrahlung N + N -> N + N + nu + nu-bar and pair annihilation e^+ + e^- -> nu + nu-bar, reactions which freeze out at the "energy sphere." Before escaping from there to infinity the neutrinos diffuse through the "scattering atmosphere," a layer where their main interaction is elastic scattering on nucleons nu + N -> N + nu. If these collisions are taken to be iso-energetic as in all numerical supernova simulations, the neutrino flux spectrum escaping to infinity depends only on the medium temperature T_ES and the thermally averaged optical depth tau_ES at the energy sphere. For tau_ES = 10-50 one finds for the spectral flux temperature of the escaping neutrinos T_flux = 0.5-0.6 T_ES. Including energy exchange (nucleon recoil) in nu + N -> N + nu can shift T_flux both up or down. Delta T_flux depends on tau_ES, on the scattering atmosphere's temperature profile, and on T_ES. Based on a numerical study we find that for typical conditions Delta T_flux/T_flux is between -10% and -20%, and even for extreme parameter choices does not exceed -30%. The exact value of Delta T_flux/T_flux is surprisingly insensitive to the assumed value of the nucleon mass, i.e. the exact efficiency of energy transfer between neutrinos and nucleons is not important as long as it can occur at all. Therefore, calculating the nu_mu and nu_tau spectra does not seem to require a precise knowledge of the nuclear medium's dynamical structure functions.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2001

Axion-like particles as ultra high energy cosmic rays?

If Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECRs) with E>4 10^{19} eV originate from BL Lacertae at cosmological distances as suggested by recent studies, the absence of the GZK cutoff can not be reconciled with Standard-Model particle properties. Axions would escape the GZK cutoff, but even the coherent conversion and back-conversion between photons and axions in large-scale magnetic fields is not enough to produce the required flux. However, one may construct models of other novel (pseudo)scalar neutral particles with properties that would allow for sufficient rates of particle production in the source and shower production in the atmosphere to explain the observations. As an explicit example for such particles we consider SUSY models with light sgoldstinos.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2000

Electron-, Mu-, and Tau-Number Conservation in a Supernova Core

We study if the neutrino mixing parameters suggested by the atmospheric neutrino anomaly imply chemical equilibrium between mu- and tau-flavored leptons in a supernova (SN) core. The initial flavor-conversion rate would indeed be fast if the nu_mu-nu_tau-mixing angle were not suppressed by second-order refractive effects. The neutrino diffusion coefficients are different for nu_mu, anti-nu_mu, nu_tau and anti-nu_tau so that neutrino transport will create a net mu and tau lepton number density. This will typically lead to a situation where the usual first-order refractive effects dominate, further suppressing the rate of flavor conversion. Altogether, neutrino refraction has the nontrivial consequence of guaranteeing the separate conservation of e, mu, and tau lepton number in a SN core on the infall and cooling time scales, even when neutrino mixing angles are large.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2000

Primordial Nucleosynthesis with Massive Tau Neutrinos

A massive long-lived tau neutrino in the MeV regime modifies the primordial light-element abundances predicted by big-bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) calculations. This effect has been used to derive limits on the tau neutrino mass. Because recently the observational situation has become somewhat confusing and, in part, intrinsically inconsistent, we reconsider the BBN limits on the tau neutrino mass. To this end we use our newly developed BBN code to calculate the primordial abundances as a function of the tau neutrino mass and of the cosmic baryon density eta. We derive concordance regions in the eta - tau-neutrino-mass - plane for several sets of alleged primordial abundances. In some cases a concordance region exists only for a nonvanishing tau neutrino mass. At the present time BBN does not provide clear evidence for or against a tau neutrino mass.

astro-ph↗

arXiv1999

Massive Neutrinos in Astrophysics

An introduction to various topics in neutrino astrophysics is given for students with little prior exposure to this field. We explain neutrino production and propagation in stars, neutrino oscillations, and experimental searches for this effect. We also touch upon the cosmological role of neutrinos. A number of exercises is also included.

hep-ph↗

arXiv1998

No Pulsar Kicks from Deformed Neutrinospheres

In a supernova core, magnetic fields cause a directional variation of the neutrino refractive index so that resonant flavor oscillations would lead to a deformation of the "neutrinosphere" for, say, tau neutrinos. The associated anisotropic neutrino emission was proposed as a possible origin of the observed pulsar proper motions. We argue that this effect was vastly overestimated because the variation of the temperature over the deformed neutrinosphere is not an adequate measure for the anisotropy of neutrino emission. The neutrino flux is generated inside the neutron star core and is transported through the atmosphere at a constant luminosity, forcing the temperature gradient in the atmosphere to adjust to the inflow of energy from below. Therefore, no emission anisotropy is caused by a deformation of the neutrinosphere to lowest order. An estimate of the higher-order corrections must take into account the modified atmospheric temperature profile in response to the deformation of the neutrinosphere and the corresponding feedback on the core. We go through this exercise in the framework of a simplified model which can be solved analytically.

astro-ph↗

arXiv1998

Comment on Neutrino Radiative Decay Limits from the Infrared Background

Recent observations of TeV gamma rays from distant sources provide new limits on the cosmic infrared background and thus on radiative decays of background neutrinos. I translate these limits into bounds on transition dipole moments and compare them with limits from the energy-loss of globular-cluster stars. The latter are more restrictive for neutrino masses below 1-2 eV.

astro-ph↗

arXiv1997

Astro-Particle Physics

Recent developments of those areas of astro-particle physics are discussed that were represented at the HEP97 conference. In particular, the current status of direct and indirect dark-matter searches and of TeV neutrino and gamma-ray astronomy will be reviewed.

hep-ph↗

arXiv1997

Dark Matter: Motivation, Candidates and Searches

The physical nature of most of the gravitating mass in the universe is completely mysterious. The astrophysical evidence for the presence of this dark matter and astrophysical constraints on its properties will be reviewed. The most popular dark-matter candidates will be introduced, and current and future attempts to search for them directly and indirectly will be discussed.

hep-ph↗

arXiv1997

Neutrino Masses in Astrophysics and Cosmology

Cosmology yields the most restrictive limits on neutrino masses and conversely, massive neutrinos would contribute to the cosmic dark-matter density and would play an important role for the formation of structure in the universe. Neutrino oscillations may well solve the solar neutrino problem and can have a significant impact on supernova physics. The neutrino signal from a future galactic supernova could provide evidence for cosmologically interesting neutrino masses or set interesting limits.

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