Searcharxiv⌕ Search

arXiv subjects

Yong-Zhong Qian

Publications and source records attributed to Yong-Zhong Qian.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
arXiv2016

Spectra and rates of bremsstrahlung neutrino emission in stars

We calculate the energy-differential rate for neutrino emission from electron-nucleus bremsstrahlung in stellar interiors taking into account the effects of electron screening and ionic correlations. We compare the energy-differential and the net rates, as well as the average $\barν_e$ and $\barν_x$ $(x = μ, τ)$ energies, for this process with those for $e^{\pm}$ pair annihilation, plasmon decay, and photo-neutrino emission over a wide range of temperature and density. We also compare our updated energy loss rates for the above thermal neutrino emission processes with the fitting formulas widely used in stellar evolution models and determine the temperature and density domain in which each process dominates. We discuss the implications of our results for detection of $\barν_e$ from massive stars during their pre-supernova evolution and find that pair annihilation makes the predominant contribution to the signal from the thermal emission processes.

astro-ph.SR↗
arXiv2016

Do Neutrino Wave Functions Overlap and Does it Matter?

Studies of neutrinos commonly ignore anti-symmetrization of their wave functions. This implicitly assumes that either spatial wave functions for neutrinos with approximately the same momentum do not overlap or their overlapping has no measurable consequences. We examine these assumptions by considering the evolution of three-dimensional neutrino wave packets (WPs). We find that it is perfectly adequate to treat accelerator and reactor neutrinos as separate WPs for typical experimental setup. While solar and supernova neutrinos correspond to overlapping WPs, they can be treated effectively as non-overlapping for analyses of their detection.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2015

A Chemical Evolution Model for the Fornax Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy

Fornax is the brightest Milky Way (MW) dwarf spheroidal galaxy and its star formation history (SFH) has been derived from observations. We estimate the time evolution of its gas mass and net inflow and outflow rates from the SFH using a simple star formation law that relates the star formation rate to the gas mass. We present a chemical evolution model on a 2D mass grid with supernovae (SNe) as sources of metal enrichment. We find that a key parameter controlling the enrichment is the mass M_x of the gas to mix with the ejecta from each SN. The choice of M_x depends on the evolution of SN remnants and on the global gas dynamics. It differs between the two types of SNe involved and between the periods before and after Fornax became an MW satellite at time t = t_sat . Our results indicate that due to the global gas outflow at t > t_sat , part of the ejecta from each SN may directly escape from Fornax. Sample results from our model are presented and compared with data.

astro-ph.GA↗
arXiv2015

Linking neutrino oscillations to the nucleosynthesis of elements

Neutrino interactions with matter play an important role in determining the nucleosynthesis outcome in explosive astrophysical environments such as core-collapse supernovae or mergers of compact objects. In this article, we first discuss our recent work on the importance of studying the time evolution of collective neutrino oscillations among active flavors in determining their effects on nucleosynthesis. We then consider the possible active-sterile neutrino mixing and demonstrate the need of a consistent approach to evolve neutrino flavor oscillations, matter composition, and the hydrodynamics when flavor oscillations can happen very deep inside the supernovae.

astro-ph.HE↗
arXiv2015

Neutrino-Induced Nucleosynthesis in Helium Shells of Early Core-Collapse Supernovae

We summarize our studies on neutrino-driven nucleosynthesis in He shells of early core-collapse supernovae with metallicities of $Z\lesssim 10^{-3}\,Z_\odot$. We find that for progenitors of $\sim 11$--$15\,{\rm M}_\odot$, the neutrons released by $^4{\rm He}(\barν_e,e^+n)^3{\rm H}$ in He shells can be captured to produce nuclei with mass numbers up to $A \sim 200$. This mechanism is sensitive to neutrino emission spectra and flavor oscillations. In addition, we find two new primary mechanisms for neutrino-induced production of $^{9}$Be in He shells. The first mechanism produces $^9$Be via $^7{\rm Li}(n,γ)^8{\rm Li}(n,γ)^9{\rm Li}(e^-\barν_e)^9{\rm Be}$ and relies on a low explosion energy for its survival. The second mechanism operates in progenitors of $\sim 8\,{\rm M}_\odot$, where $^9$Be can be produced directly via $^7{\rm Li}(^3{\rm H},n_0)^9{\rm Be}$ during the rapid expansion of the shocked He-shell material. The light nuclei $^7$Li and $^3$H involved in these mechanisms are produced by neutrino interactions with $^4$He. We discuss the implications of neutrino-induced nucleosynthesis in He shells for interpreting the elemental abundances in metal-poor stars.

astro-ph.SR↗
arXiv2015

Physics of neutrino flavor transformation through matter-neutrino resonances

In astrophysical environments such as core-collapse supernovae and neutron star-neutron star or neutron star-black hole mergers where dense neutrino media are present, matter-neutrino resonances (MNRs) can occur when the neutrino propagation potentials due to neutrino-electron and neutrino-neutrino forward scattering nearly cancel each other. We show that neutrino flavor transformation through MNRs can be explained by multiple adiabatic solutions similar to the Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein mechanism. We find that for the normal neutrino mass hierarchy, neutrino flavor evolution through MNRs can be sensitive to the shape of neutrino spectra and the adiabaticity of the system, but such sensitivity is absent for the inverted hierarchy.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2014

Effects of neutrino oscillations on nucleosynthesis and neutrino signals for an 18 M supernova model

In this paper, we explore the effects of neutrino flavor oscillations on supernova nucleosynthesis and on the neutrino signals. Our study is based on detailed information about the neutrino spectra and their time evolution from a spherically-symmetric supernova model for an 18 M progenitor. We find that collective neutrino oscillations are not only sensitive to the detailed neutrino energy and angular distributions at emission, but also to the time evolution of both the neutrino spectra and the electron density profile. We apply the results of neutrino oscillations to study the impact on supernova nucleosynthesis and on the neutrino signals from a Galactic supernova. We show that in our supernova model, collective neutrino oscillations enhance the production of rare isotopes 138La and 180Ta but have little impact on the nu p-process nucleosynthesis. In addition, the adiabatic MSW flavor transformation, which occurs in the C/O and He shells of the supernova, may affect the production of light nuclei such as 7Li and 11B. For the neutrino signals, we calculate the rate of neutrino events in the Super-Kamiokande detector and in a hypothetical liquid argon detector. Our results suggest the possibility of using the time profiles of the events in both detectors, along with the spectral information of the detected neutrinos, to infer the neutrino mass hierarchy.

astro-ph.HE↗
arXiv2014

A Pedagogical Discussion on Neutrino Wave-Packet Evolution

We present a pedagogical discussion on the time evolution of a Gaussian neutrino wave packet in free space. A common treatment is to keep momentum terms up to the quadratic order in the expansion of the energy-momentum relation so that the Fourier transform can be evaluated analytically via Gaussian integrals. This leads to a solution representing a flat Gaussian distribution with a constant longitudinal width and a spreading transverse width, which suggests that special relativity would be violated if the neutrino wave packet were detected on its edge. However, we demonstrate that by including terms of higher order in momentum the correct geometry of the wave packet is restored. The corrected solution has a spherical wave front so that it complies with special relativity.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2013

Impact of active-sterile neutrino mixing on supernova explosion and nucleosynthesis

We show that for the active-sterile flavor mixing parameters suggested by the reactor neutrino anomaly, substantial \ν_e-\ν_s and \bar \ν_e-\bar \ν_s conversion occurs in regions with electron fraction of \approx 1/3 near the core of an 8.8 M_sun electron-capture supernova. Compared to the case without such conversion, the neutron-richness of the ejected material is enhanced to allow production of elements from Sr, Y, and Zr up to Cd in broad agreement with observations of the metal-poor star HD 122563. Active-sterile flavor conversion also strongly suppresses neutrino heating at times when it is important for the revival of the shock. Our results suggest that simulations of supernova explosion and nucleosynthesis may be used to constrain active-sterile mixing parameters in combination with neutrino experiments and cosmological considerations.

astro-ph.HE↗
arXiv2012

Supernova-driven outflows and chemical evolution of dwarf spheroidal galaxies

We present a general phenomenological model for the metallicity distribution (MD) in terms of [Fe/H] for dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSphs). These galaxies appear to have stopped accreting gas from the intergalactic medium and are fossilized systems with their stars undergoing slow internal evolution. For a wide variety of infall histories of unprocessed baryonic matter to feed star formation, most of the observed MDs can be well described by our model. The key requirement is that the fraction of the gas mass lost by supernova-driven outflows is close to unity. This model also predicts a relationship between the total stellar mass and the mean metallicity for dSphs in accord with properties of their dark matter halos. The model further predicts as a natural consequence that the abundance ratios [E/Fe] for elements such as O, Mg, and Si decrease for stellar populations at the higher end of the [Fe/H] range in a dSph. We show that for infall rates far below the net rate of gas loss to star formation and outflows, the MD in our model is very sharply peaked at one [Fe/H] value, similar to what is observed in most globular clusters. This suggests that globular clusters may be end members of the same family as dSphs.

astro-ph.GA↗
arXiv2012

Astrophysical Models of r-Process Nucleosynthesis: An Update

An update on astrophysical models for nucleosynthesis via rapid neutron capture, the r process, is given. A neutrino-induced r process in supernova helium shells may have operated up to metallicities of ~10^-3 times the solar value. Another r-process source, possibly neutron star mergers, is required for higher metallicities.

astro-ph.SR↗
arXiv2011

Neutrino Luminosity and Matter-Induced Modification of Collective Neutrino Flavor Oscillations in Supernovae

We show that the bump in the electron number density profile at the base of the hydrogen envelope in O-Ne-Mg core-collapse supernovae causes an interesting interplay between neutrino-electron and neutrino-neutrino forward scattering effects in the flavor evolution of low-energy nu_e in the neutronization burst. The bump allows a significant fraction of the low-energy nu_e to survive by rendering their flavor evolution nonadiabatic. Increasing the luminosity of the neutronization burst shifts the bump-affected nu_e to lower energy with reduced survival probability. Similarly, lowering the luminosity shifts the bump-affected neutrinos to higher energies. While these low energy neutrinos lie near the edge of detectability, the population of bump-affected neutrinos has direct influence on the spectral swap formation in the neutrino signal at higher energies.

astro-ph.HE↗
arXiv2011

Density Fluctuation Effects on Collective Neutrino Oscillations in O-Ne-Mg Core-Collapse Supernovae

We investigate the effect of matter density fluctuations on supernova collective neutrino flavor oscillations. In particular, we use full multi-angle, 3-flavor, self-consistent simulations of the evolution of the neutrino flavor field in the envelope of an O-Ne-Mg core collapse supernova at shock break-out (neutrino neutronization burst) to study the effect of the matter density "bump" left by the He-burning shell. We find a seemingly counterintuitive increase in the overall electron neutrino survival probability created by this matter density feature. We discuss this behavior in terms of the interplay between the matter density profile and neutrino collective effects. While our results give new insights into this interplay, they also suggest an immediate consequence for supernova neutrino burst detection: it will be difficult to use a burst signal to extract information on fossil burning shells or other fluctuations of this scale in the matter density profile. Consistent with previous studies, our results also show that the interplay of neutrino self-coupling and matter fluctuation could cause a significant increase in the electron neutrino survival probability at very low energy

astro-ph.HE↗
arXiv2011

Resonances Driven by a Neutrino Gyroscope and Collective Neutrino Oscillations in Supernovae

We show that flavor evolution of a system of neutrinos with continuous energy spectra as in supernovae can be understood in terms of the response of individual neutrino flavor-isospins (NFIS's) to the mean field. In the case of a system initially consisting of nu_e and anti-nu_e with the same energy spectrum but different number densities, the mean field is very well approximated by the total angular momentum of a neutrino gyroscope. Assuming that NFIS evolution is independent of the initial neutrino emission angle, the so-called single-angle approximation, we find that the evolution is governed by two types of resonances driven by precession and nutation of the gyroscope, respectively. The net flavor transformation crucially depends on the adiabaticity of evolution through these resonances. We show that the results for the system of two initial neutrino species can be extended to a system of four species with the initial number densities of nu_e and anti-nu_e significantly larger than those of nu_x and anti-nu_x. Further, we find that when the dependence on the initial neutrino emission angle is taken into account in the multi-angle approximation, nutation of the mean field is quickly damped out and can be neglected. In contrast, precession-driven resonances still govern the evolution of NFIS's with different energy and emission angles just as in the single-angle approximation. Our pedagogical and analytic study of collective neutrino oscillations in supernovae provides some insights into these seemingly complicated yet fascinating phenomena.

astro-ph.SR↗
arXiv2010

Collective Neutrino Oscillations

We review the rich phenomena associated with neutrino flavor transformation in the presence of neutrino self-coupling. Our exposition centers on three collective neutrino oscillation scenarios: a simple bipolar neutrino system that initially consists of mono-energetic electron neutrinos and antineutrinos; a homogeneous and isotropic neutrino gas with multiple neutrino/antineutrino species and continuous energy spectra; and a generic neutrino gas in an anisotropic environment. We use each of these scenarios to illustrate key facets of collective neutrino oscillations. We discuss the implications of collective neutrino flavor oscillations for core collapse supernova physics and for the prospects of obtaining fundamental neutrino properties, e.g., the neutrino mass hierarchy and $θ_{13}$ from a future observed supernova neutrino signal.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2009

Symmetries in collective neutrino oscillations

We discuss the relationship between a symmetry in the neutrino flavour evolution equations and neutrino flavour oscillations in the collective precession mode. This collective precession mode can give rise to spectral swaps (splits) when conditions can be approximated as homogeneous and isotropic. Multi-angle numerical simulations of supernova neutrino flavour transformation show that when this approximation breaks down, non-collective neutrino oscillation modes decohere kinematically, but the collective precession mode still is expected to stand out. We provide a criterion for significant flavour transformation to occur if neutrinos participate in a collective precession mode. This criterion can be used to understand the suppression of collective neutrino oscillations in anisotropic environments in the presence of a high matter density. This criterion is also useful in understanding the breakdown of the collective precession mode when neutrino densities are small.

astro-ph↗
arXiv2008

Recent Progress in the Understanding of the r-Process

A brief overview of the r-process is given with an emphasis on the observational implications for this process. The conditions required for the major production of the heavy r-process elements (r-elements) with mass numbers A >130 are discussed based on a generic astrophysical model where matter adiabatically expands from a hot and dense initial state. Nucleosynthesis in the neutrino-driven winds from nascent neutron stars is discussed as a specific example. Such winds readily produce the elements from Sr to Ag with A ~ 88 to 110 through charged-particle reactions in the alpha-process but appear incapable of making the heavy r-elements. Observations of elemental abundances in metal-poor stars have provided many valuable insights into the r-process. They have demonstrated that the production of the heavy r-elements must be associated with massive stars evolving on short timescales, provided evidence strongly favoring core-collapse supernovae over neutron star mergers as the major source for these elements, and shown that this source cannot produce any significant amount of the low-A elements from Na to Ge including Fe. A self-consistent astrophysical model of the r-process remains to be developed, and it appears well worthwhile to carry out more comprehensive studies on the evolution and explosion of the massive stars of ~ 8 to 11 M_sun that undergo O-Ne-Mg core collapse and produce a very insignificant amount of the low-A elements.

astro-ph↗