Stimulated neutrino transformation with sinusoidal density profiles

Journal Article · Thu Mar 28 00:00:00 EDT 2013 · Journal of Physics. G, Nuclear and Particle Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0954-3899/40/5/055002· OSTI ID:1327857

Kneller, J. P. ^[1]; McLaughlin, G. C. ^[1]; Patton, K. M. ^[1]

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1. North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC (United States)

Large amplitude oscillations between the states of a quantum system can be stimulated by sinusoidal external potentials with frequencies that are similar to the energy level splitting of the states or a fraction thereof. Situations where the applied frequency is equal to an integer fraction of the energy level splittings are known as parametric resonances. We investigate this effect for neutrinos both analytically and numerically for the case of arbitrary numbers of neutrino flavors. We look for environments where the effect may be observed and find that supernovae are the one realistic possibility due to the necessity of both large densities and large amplitude fluctuations. In conclusion, the comparison of numerical and analytical results of neutrino propagation through a model supernova reveals that it is possible to predict the locations and strengths of the stimulated transitions that occur.

• Research Organization: North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Nuclear Physics (NP)
• Grant/Contract Number: SC0006417
• OSTI ID: 1327857
• Journal Information: Journal of Physics. G, Nuclear and Particle Physics, Vol. 40, Issue 5; ISSN 0954-3899
• Publisher: IOP Publishing
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS
neutrino