arXiv subjects

Hiroki Nagakura

Publications and source records attributed to Hiroki Nagakura.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Comprehensive neutrino light curves and spectra: from pre-supernova evolution to early supernova phase

We present the first systematic study of neutrino emissions from massive stars, continuously tracking the late evolutionary stages through the early core-collapse supernova phase. Using progenitor and supernova models, we analyze the neutrino luminosities and spectra for progenitors with initial masses of 10--40~$M_\odot$. Our systematic analysis reveals that the compactness parameter ($ξ_{2.5}$) and carbon-oxygen core mass ($M_{\text{CO}}$) exhibit strong correlations with neutrino emission. In the pre-supernova phase, the time-integrated number of neutrinos correlates with $ξ_{2.5}$ when integrated over the final day and with $M_{\text{CO}}$ for longer durations. For the early supernova phase ($<200$ ms post-bounce), the neutrino properties are relatively insensitive to the specific stellar evolution code used, allowing for a reliable extraction of physical correlations. We confirm that the neutrino emission features, including the electron neutrino burst properties and accretion-powered luminosity of other species, reflect the progenitor's compactness. An evaluation of the observational feasibility for a nearby progenitor using a False Alarm Rate approach suggests that these correlations can persist even under practical detection conditions. Such a joint analysis of both phases provides complementary constraints on the internal structure. All calculated time-series data will be made publicly available.

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arXiv2026

Dynamic Competition of Fast and Collisional Neutrino Flavor Instabilities with Collisional Damping in Spatially Inhomogeneous Systems

Neutrino flavor evolution in dense astrophysical environments such as core-collapse supernova (CCSN) is influenced by collective effects. While the Fast Flavor Instability (FFI) and the Collisional Flavor Instability (CFI) are recognized as key drivers of rapid flavor conversion, their non-linear competition with collisional damping in spatially inhomogeneous systems remains poorly understood. Motivated by recent findings that FFI and resonance-like CFI co-occur in the post-bounce phase in CCSN, we scrutinize their dynamic competitions and asymptotic states. To this end, we perform numerical simulations of the quantum kinetic neutrino transport, incorporating both spatial advection and the collision terms. We demonstrate that the interplay between these coexisting neutrino flavor instabilities and collisions leads to rich dynamics. Rather than merely inducing simple decoherence, collisional damping can substantially alter the overall dynamics of collective flavor oscillations, driving the system through complex evolutionary pathways. In all cases where flavor instability develops, we find that the system converges to the same flavor-equilibrated asymptotic state, despite the diversity of intermediate dynamics. Our results suggest that realistic collisional effects drive the system to an asymptotic state distinct from the one predicted by the collisionless FFI picture. This highlights the importance of incorporating collisional effects when modeling the asymptotic outcome of flavor conversion in CCSN models.

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arXiv2026

Bifurcated Impact of Neutrino Fast Flavor Conversion on Core-collapse Supernovae Informed by Multi-angle Neutrino Radiation Hydrodynamics

In this {\it Letter}, we present a compelling and robust argument for the roles of neutrino fast flavor conversion (FFC) in the explosion mechanism of core-collapse supernova (CCSN), combining the {\it multi-angle} FFC subgrid model rooted in quantum kinetic theory with the multi-dimensional four-species Boltzmann neutrino radiation hydrodynamics. Employing various progenitor masses and the nuclear equations of states, we find that the effect of FFC on CCSN explosion is bifurcated depending on the progenitors. For the lowest-mass progenitor, FFC facilitates the shock revival and enhances the explosion energy, whereas for higher-mass progenitors its impact is inhibitory. We identify the mass accretion rate as the key determinant governing this bifurcation. When the mass accretion rate is low (high), the contribution of FFC to neutrino heating becomes positive (negative), because the heating efficiency enhancement via FFC-driven spectral hardening of electron-type neutrinos dominates over (is outweighed by) the concurrent reduction in neutrino luminosity. Our results further highlight the limitations of approximate neutrino transport, and demonstrate that a multi-angle treatment is essential for accurately capturing FFC effects; otherwise, FFCs are missed and even generated spuriously.

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arXiv2026

Fast Neutrino-Flavor Conversion with Attenuation and Global Lepton Gradient

Fast neutrino-flavor conversion (FFC) can nontrivially alter neutrino radiation field in core-collapase supernovae (CCSN) and binary neutron-star merger (BNSM) remnants. However, its interplay with global geometry remains poorly understood because microscopic flavor conversion scales are much shorter than global transport scales. We perform global quantum kinetic neutrino transport simulations in spherical geometry with neutrino and matter backgrounds, using an attenuated oscillation Hamiltonian. We find that steep radial lepton gradients can suppress FFC, whereas the suppression is highly sensitive to the adopted attenuation parameter. This behavior is explained by an adiabatic condition: flavor coherence can grow sufficiently only while the flavor wave remains on the unstable branch in the local dispersion relation during propagation. Background variation shifts the unstable branch, while attenuation lengthens the growth timescale, making the flavor coherence following more difficult. We provide an approximate formula for the adiabaticity that can be used directly in CCSN and BNSM models developed by classical neutrino transport simulations. Our results show that attenuation artificially leads to an overestimation of the impact of background variation and should therefore be applied with caution in global simulations of neutrino flavor conversion.

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arXiv2026

Approximate Energy-Integration Method for Identifying Collisional Neutrino Flavor Instabilities

We present an approximate energy-integration method for identifying collisional neutrino flavor instabilities. Direct evaluation of the dispersion relation requires multi-dimensional integrals over neutrino phase space, making systematic searches for unstable modes in numerical models of core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe) and binary neutron star mergers (BNSMs) computationally expensive. In the literature there are some approximate schemes, but they are largely restricted to the homogeneous limit and can exhibit inaccuracies as reported in recent studies. In the current paper, we clarify the origin of the limitations in previous schemes and provide a better approximation method that robustly preserves the key physics of spectral asymmetries and collision rates. It yields a reduced dispersion relation that is inexpensive to evaluate. Comparison with exact solutions demonstrates that our new approximate method shows a good performance in computing both real frequencies and growth rates across a wide range of regimes, including isotropic and anisotropic neutrino distributions for both homogeneous and inhomogeneous modes. This provides a practical, accurate, and scalable framework for identifying collisional flavor instabilities in high-energy astrophysical simulations such as CCSNe and BNSMs.

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arXiv2025

A Dual-Resolution Prescription in the $S_N$ Method for Boltzmann Neutrino Transport I: Proof of Principle and the Resolution of Collision Term

We propose a dual-resolution prescription meant for the Boltzmann neutrino transport, in which the advection and collision terms are calculated with different angular resolutions in momentum space. The purpose is to address the issue of the low resolution that afflicts the $S_N$ method in the multi-dimensional neutrino transport simulations for core-collapse supernovae. We handle with a high resolution the advection term alone, assuming that the collision term does not require such high resolutions. To confirm this surmise as well as our new conversion scheme, from low- to high-angular resolutions and vice versa, we run a couple of experimental one-zone (in space) simulations. Neutrino scatterings on nucleons are considered with small recoils fully taken into account whereas the advection term is replaced by the angle- and energy-dependent source terms that are designed to mimic the results of a Boltzmann simulation, inducing the anisotropy in momentum space. For the conversion from a low-resolution distribution function to a high-resolution one, we employ a polynomial interpolations in the zenith and azimuth directions separately with the number conservation and continuity (and periodicity only in the azimuth direction). We find that this dual-resolution scheme works well and that the current angular resolution employed in the canonical supernova simulations with our Boltzmann solver or a bit better in the $ϕ_ν$ direction will be sufficient for the collision terms if they are coupled with the advection terms calculated with a high-angular resolution via this prescription.

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arXiv2025

Dynamical equilibria of fast neutrino flavor conversion

Dense neutrino systems, which display collectivity mediated by the weak interaction, have deep parallels with mean-field kinetic systems governed by other fundamental forces. We identify analogues in fast flavor conversion (FFC) of some time-honored nonlinear phenomena in plasmas and self-gravitating systems. We focus in particular on nonlinear Landau damping and collisionless equilibria, which are likely important pieces of the unsolved puzzle of neutrino oscillations in core-collapse supernovae and neutron star mergers. Our analysis additionally reveals the previously unexplored phenomenon of flavor-wave synchronization.

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arXiv2025

Reconciling the Tension Between Light Curve Modeling of Type II Supernovae and Neutrino-Driven Core-Collapse Supernovae Models with Late-Phase Spectroscopy

Type II supernovae (SNe II) are the most frequently observed outcome of core-collapse explosions and provide a valuable window into the physical mechanisms governing the deaths of massive stars. However, estimates of explosion properties based on optical light curve modeling often show tension with the predictions of modern neutrino-driven explosion models. In particular, when based on light curves from the explosions of red supergiant (RSG) tied to specific stellar wind models, many SNe II are found to originate from low-mass progenitors yet exhibit unusually high explosion energies ($E_{\rm K}$), far exceeding theoretical predictions. In this study, we incorporate late-phase (nebular) spectroscopy to estimate the helium core mass of the progenitor ($M_{\rm He\,core}$), which serves as an additional constraint to break degeneracies in light curve modeling. This approach is applied to a sample of 32 well-observed SNe II, using a light curve model grid constructed from RSGs with arbitrarily stripped hydrogen-rich envelopes, rather than assuming a fixed wind model. Examining the resulting correlations among the physical parameters, we find that the tension between the observed $M_{\rm He\,core}$-$E_{\rm K}$ and $E_{\rm K}$-$M_{\rm Ni}$ relations and those predicted by neutrino-driven explosion models has significantly lessened by incorporating nebular spectroscopy in light curve modeling. This study highlights the crucial role of nebular spectroscopy in interpreting SNe II observations and provides support to the neutrino-driven explosion mechanism as the dominant engine powering these events.

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arXiv2025

The Effect of the Collisional Flavor Instability on Core-Collapse Supernova Models

We explore the effects of the neutrino collisional flavor instability (CFI) based on 1D and 2D core-collapse supernova (CCSN) simulations done using the sophisticated radiation-hydrodynamic code Fornax. We compare the growth rates of homogeneous CFI (hCFI) modes calculated by numerically solving the multi-group dispersion relation to those calculated using the monochromatic approximation. We find that the widely-used monochromatic approximation leads to incorrect growth rates} when applied in multi-group scenarios. As opposed to the $\sim10^5$ s$^{-1}$ values given by the monochromatic approximation, the actual growth rates of non-resonance multi-group hCFI are at most $\sim$200 s$^{-1}$ in all our models and they are too slow to affect CCSN outcomes. We adopt a BGK flavor conversion scheme in the simulations to include the effects of resonance-like hCFI. We find that the CCSN dynamics and neutrino emission properties are only weakly influenced, and the intrinsic stochasticity due to convection and neutrino-driven turbulence can naturally lead to comparable effects. Hence, our analysis of the non-resonance and resonance-like hCFI into CCSN simulations suggests that the effects of neutrino flavor conversion triggered by hCFI modes are in general small.

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arXiv2025

Asymmetric emissions of neutrinos in the cooling of rotating proto-neutron stars

We evaluate global asymmetry in the luminosities of neutrinos emitted from rapidly-rotating proto-neutron stars (PNS's). We build axisymmetric models of PNS's in mechanical equilibrium with rotation by adding prescribed angular momentum distributions by hand to non-rotational PNS models, which are extracted from a one-dimensional (spherically symmetric) PNS cooling calculation at different times: $t=2, 6, 10, 20, 30$s after a supernova explosion. We then conduct two-dimensional (spatially axisymmetric) neutrino transport calculations on top of them with the matter profiles (and the spacetime geometry) fixed. We find for the rapidly-rotating models with $T/|W|\sim 5\times 10^{-2}$ that the neutrino luminosity changes by $\sim 3 \% $ depending on the observer position. We give detailed analyses of the neutrino-hemispheres as well as the neutrino luminosities that are defined observer-wise. We also calculate the low-frequency ($\lesssim 1{\rm Hz}$) gravitational waves produced by the neutrinos radiated asymmetrically. We find that those gravitational waves, if emitted from the Galactic center, can be detected by planned detectors such as B-DECIGO, DECIGO and AILA. Finally, we look for crossings in the energy-integrated angular distributions in momentum space for the electron neutrino sector, a signature of the fast flavor conversion. We find them near the PNS surface in all models.

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arXiv2025

Neutrino flavor instabilities in a binary neutron star merger remnant: Roles of a long-lived hypermassive neutron star

Understanding the post-merger evolution of binary neutron star merger (BNSM) requires accurate modeling of neutrino transport and microphysics including neutrino flavor conversions. Many previous studies have suggested that fast flavor instability (FFI) and collisional flavor instability (CFI) pervade inner regions of BNSM remnant, and they could impact on fluid dynamics and r-process nucleosynthesis. In this work, we re-examine prospects of occurrences of FFI and CFI using Boltzmann neutrino transport, assuming a frozen fluid background obtained from a numerical relativity simulation of BNSM. We pay special attention to a case involving a long-lived ($>1\,$ s) hypermassive neutron star (HMNS). Apart from confirming the claim that these flavor instabilities can occur in BNSM remnants, some new insights are revealed. We identify multiple mechanisms responsible for generating electron neutrino lepton number (ELN) angular crossings, corresponding to a key indicator of FFI onset, which differ notably from those in black hole (BH) accretion disk systems. We argue that the appearance of positive chemical potential of electron-type neutrinos plays important roles on generating ELN angular crossings. For CFI, their growth rates are generally lower than FFI, but they can persistently occur in most of the accretion disk up to $\sim 1\,$ s. We also find that neglecting contributions of heavy-leptonic neutrinos results in overestimating growth rate and area of unstable regions of CFI. Our result suggests that FFI (CFI) tends to occur transiently (persistently) and locally (widespread in the disk), and FFI is more sensitive to the central compact object (HMNS or BH) than CFI, though more self-consistent simulations with incorporating effects of flavor conversions are needed to confirm these claims.

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arXiv2025

Comparative Testing of Subgrid Models for Fast Neutrino Flavor Conversions in Core-collapse Supernova Simulations

We investigate key methodologies of Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook subgrid modeling for neutrino fast flavor conversions (FFC) in core-collapse supernova based on spherically symmetric Boltzmann radiation hydrodynamics simulations. We first examine time integration methods (explicit, implicit, or semi-implicit) and time step control for the subgrid term, and then compare various approaches in the literature approximating FFCs in two aspects: (1) angular dependent survival probability of neutrinos versus simple equipartition condition with a certain baryon mass density threshold, and (2) 4-species treatment versus 3-species assumption ($ν_x=\barν_x$). We find that the equipartition condition is reasonable for out-going neutrinos, but large deviations emerge in the incoming neutrinos, that has an influence on matter profiles. We also find that the 3-species model, in which flavor conversions evolve towards erasing electron neutrino lepton number (ELN) crossings, behave differently from the 4-species models where heavy leptonic neutrino number (XLN) are appropriately treated in FFC subgrid modeling. In 4-species models, we commonly observe noticeable differences between $ν_x$ and $\barν_x$, highlighting the limitation in 3-species treatments to study impacts of flavor conversion on neutrino signals. Our result also suggests that FFC models yield lower neutrino heating rate and smaller shock radii compared to cases with no FFC, in agreement with earlier studies employing quantum kinetic neutrino transport. This work provides valuable information towards robust implementation of FFC subgrid model into classical transport, and serves as a pilot study for future multi-dimensional simulations.

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arXiv2025

Core-collapse supernova explosions hindered by eV-mass sterile neutrinos

Light sterile neutrinos, $ν_s$, are often introduced to explain an anomalous deficit in the electron antineutrino flux from nuclear reactors. If they exist, sterile neutrinos would also be produced in collapsing massive stars through the active-sterile neutrino oscillation. In order to investigate the impacts of sterile neutrinos on supernova dynamics, we perform two-dimensional neutrino-radiation hydrodynamic simulations of stellar core-collapse coupled with the active-sterile oscillation through the Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein effect. As the initial condition of our simulations, we adopt a blue supergiant model that is tuned to reproduce observational features of the SN 1987A progenitor to compare our models with observations of the event. It is found that the active-sterile oscillation reduces the $ν_{e}$ and $\barν_e$ fluxes and decreases the explosion energy. We also find that, if the mixing angle $θ$ and the mass difference $δm_\mathrm{s}^2$ between $ν_e$ and $ν_s$ are large enough, the star fails to explode. This suggests that these mixing parameters relevant to sterile neutrinos could be constrained by supernova explodability, though other uncertainties in supernova theory need to be addressed to refine them. In addition, we predict neutrino signals from a nearby supernova event and find that the neutrino event number can significantly decrease because the $ν_e$ and $\barν_e$ fluxes are reduced. In particular, DUNE observations of $ν_e$ will be useful to search for a signature of sterile neutrinos with a tiny mixing angle because a smaller mixing angle leads to a larger effect on the $ν_e$ flux.

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arXiv2025

Asymptotic states of fast neutrino-flavor conversions in the three-flavor framework

There has been growing evidence that mu and tau neutrinos are noticeably different due to the emergence of muons in core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe) and binary neutron star mergers (BNSMs). Recent theoretical studies also suggest that all flavors of neutrinos and antineutrinos inevitably experience some flavor mixing instabilities including fast neutrino flavor conversions (FFC), which corresponds to one of the collective neutrino oscillations powered by neutrino self-interactions. This represents a need for quantum kinetic treatment in the numerical modeling of neutrino dynamics, which is, however, a formidable computational challenge. In this paper, we present an approximate method to predict asymptotic states of FFC without solving a quantum kinetic equation under a three-flavor framework, in which mu and tau neutrino distributions are not necessarily identical to each other. The approximate method is developed based on a Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook (BGK) relaxation time prescription, capable of capturing essential features of mixing competitions among three different flavor-coherent states. Our proposed scheme is computationally inexpensive and easy to implement in any classical neutrino transport scheme.

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arXiv2025

Resolution requirements for numerical modeling of neutrino quantum kinetics

Neutrino quantum kinetics is a rapidly evolving field in computational astrophysics, with a primary focus on collective neutrino oscillations in core-collapse supernovae and post-merger phases of binary neutron star mergers. In recent years, there has been considerable debate concerning resolution dependence in numerical simulations. In this paper, we conduct a comprehensive resolution study in both angular- and spatial directions by using two independent schemes of quantum kinetic neutrino transport: finite volume and pseudospectral methods. We complement our discussion by linear stability analysis including inhomogeneous modes. Our result suggests that decreasing spatial resolutions underestimates the growth of flavor instability, and then leads to wrong asymptotic states of flavor conversions, which potentially has a critical impact on astrophysical consequences. We further delve into numerical results of low resolution simulations, that reveals the underlying mechanism responsible for numerical artifacts caused by insufficient resolutions. This study settles the debate on requirements of resolutions and serves as a guideline for numerical modeling of quantum kinetic neutrino transport.

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arXiv2024

Quasi-steady evolution of fast neutrino-flavor conversions

In astrophysical environments such as core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe) and binary neutron star mergers (BNSMs), neutrinos potentially experience substantial flavor mixing due to the refractive effects of neutrino self-interactions. Determining the survival probability of neutrinos in asymptotic states is paramount to incorporating flavor conversions' effects in the theoretical modeling of CCSN and BNSM. Some phenomenological schemes have shown good performance in approximating asymptotic states of fast neutrino-flavor conversions (FFCs), known as one of the collective neutrino oscillation modes induced by neutrino self-interactions. However, a recent study showed that they would yield qualitatively different asymptotic states of FFC if the neutrino number is forced to evolve. It is not yet fully understood why the canonical phenomenological models fail to predict asymptotic states. In this paper, we perform detailed investigations through numerical simulations and then provide an intuitive explanation with a quasi-homogeneous analysis. Based on the analysis, we propose a new phenomenological model, in which the quasi-steady evolution of FFCs is analytically determined. The model also allows us to express the convolution term of spatial wave number as a concise form, which corresponds to useful information on analyses for the non-linear feedback from small-scale flavor conversions to large-scale ones. Our model yields excellent agreement with numerical simulations, which lends support to our interpretation.

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arXiv2024

Diffuse supernova neutrino background with up-to-date star formation rate measurements and long-term multidimensional supernova simulations

The sensitivity of current and future neutrino detectors like Super-Kamiokande (SK), JUNO, Hyper-Kamiokande (HK), and DUNE is expected to allow for the detection of the diffuse supernova neutrino background (DSNB). However, the DSNB model ingredients like the core-collapse supernova (CCSN) rate, neutrino emission spectra, and the fraction of failed supernovae are not precisely known. We quantify the uncertainty on each of these ingredients by (i) compiling a large database of recent star formation rate density measurements, (ii) combining neutrino emission from long-term axisymmetric CCSNe simulations and strategies for estimating the emission from the protoneutron star cooling phase, and (iii) assuming different models of failed supernovae. Finally, we calculate the fluxes and event rates at multiple experiments and perform a simplified statistical estimate of the time required to significantly detect the DSNB at SK with the gadolinium upgrade and JUNO. Our fiducial model predicts a flux of $5.1\pm0.4^{+0.0+0.5}_{-2.0-2.7}\,{\rm cm^2~s^{-1}}$ at SK employing Gd-tagging, or $3.6\pm0.3^{+0.0+0.8}_{-1.6-1.9}$ events per year, where the errors represent our uncertainty from star formation rate density measurements, uncertainty in neutrino emission, and uncertainty in the failed-supernova scenario. In this fiducial calculation, we could see a $3σ$ detection by $\sim2030$ with SK-Gd and a $5σ$ detection by $\sim2035$ with a joint SK-Gd/JUNO analysis, but background reduction remains crucial.

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arXiv2024

Neutron star kicks plus rockets as a mechanism for forming wide low-eccentricity neutron star binaries

Recent neutron star surface observations corroborate a long-standing theory that neutron stars may be accelerated over extended periods after their birth. We analyze how these prolonged rocket-like accelerations, combined with rapid birth kicks, impact binary orbits. We find that even a small contribution of rocket kicks combined with instantaneous natal kicks can allow binaries to reach period--eccentricity combinations unattainable in standard binary evolution models. We propose these kick + rocket combinations as a new channel to form wide low-eccentricity neutron star binaries such as Gaia NS1, as well as inducing stellar mergers months to years after a supernova to cause peculiar high-energy transients.

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