skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Adiabaticity and spectral splits in collective neutrino transformations

Journal Article · · Physical Review. D, Particles Fields
 [1];  [2]
  1. Max-Planck-Institut fuer Physik (Werner-Heisenberg-Institut), Foehringer Ring 6, 80805 Munich (Germany)
  2. Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Strada Costiera 11, 34014 Trieste (Italy)

Neutrinos streaming off a supernova core transform collectively by neutrino-neutrino interactions, leading to 'spectral splits' where an energy E{sub split} divides the transformed spectrum sharply into parts of almost pure but different flavors. We present a detailed description of the spectral-split phenomenon which is conceptually and quantitatively understood in an adiabatic treatment of neutrino-neutrino effects. Central to this theory is a self-consistency condition in the form of two sum rules (integrals over the neutrino spectra that must equal certain conserved quantities). We provide explicit analytic and numerical solutions for various neutrino spectra. We introduce the concept of the adiabatic reference frame and elaborate on the relative adiabatic evolution. Violating adiabaticity leads to the spectral split being 'washed out'. The sharpness of the split appears to be represented by a surprisingly universal function.

OSTI ID:
21024073
Journal Information:
Physical Review. D, Particles Fields, Vol. 76, Issue 12; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.76.125008; (c) 2007 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0556-2821
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Similar Records

Self-induced spectral splits in supernova neutrino fluxes
Journal Article · Mon Oct 15 00:00:00 EDT 2007 · Physical Review. D, Particles Fields · OSTI ID:21024073

Neutrino mass hierarchy and three-flavor spectral splits of supernova neutrinos
Journal Article · Sat May 01 00:00:00 EDT 2010 · Physical Review. D, Particles Fields · OSTI ID:21024073

Neutrino spectral split in core-collapse supernovae: A magnetic resonance phenomenon
Journal Article · Sat Oct 15 00:00:00 EDT 2011 · Physical Review. D, Particles Fields · OSTI ID:21024073