Axions and SN 1987A: Axion trapping. [SN 1987a]

Journal Article · Thu Nov 15 04:00:00 EST 1990 · Physical Review, D (Particles Fields); (USA)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.42.3297· OSTI ID:6260833

Burrows, A ^[1]; Ressell, M T ^[2]; Turner, M S ^[3]

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1. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (USA)
2. Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL (USA) NASA/Fermilab Astrophysics Center, Fermi National Accelerator Center, Batavia, IL (USA)
3. Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL (USA) NASA/Fermilab Astrophysics Center, Fermi National Accelerator Center, P.O. Box 500, Batavia, IL (USA) Department of Physics, Enrico Fermi Institute, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL (USA)

If an axion of mass between about 10{sup {minus}3} and 10 eV exists, axion emission would have significantly affected the cooling of the nascent neutron star associated with SN 1987A. For an axion of mass less than about 10{sup {minus}2} eV axions produced deep inside the neutron star simply stream out; in a previous paper we have addressed this case. Remarkably, for an axion of mass greater than about 10{sup {minus}2} eV axions would, like neutrinos, have a mean free path that is smaller than the size of a neutron star, and thus would become trapped'' and radiated from an axion sphere.'' In this paper we treat the trapping regime'' by using numerical models of the initial cooling of a hot neutron star that incorporate a diffusion approximation for axion-energy transport. We compute the axion opacity due to inverse nucleon-nucleon, axion bremsstrahlung, and then use our numerical models to calculate the integrated axion luminosity, the temperature of the axion sphere, and the effect of axion emission on the neutrino bursts detected by the Kamiokande II (KII) and Irvine-Michigan-Brookhaven (IMB) water-Cherenkov detectors. The larger the axion mass, the stronger the trapping and the smaller the axion luminosity. We confirm and refine the earlier estimate of the axion mass above which trapping is so strong that axion emission does not significantly affect the neutrino burst: Based upon the neutrino-burst duration--the most sensitive barometer'' of axion cooling--we conclude that for an axion mass of greater than about 3 eV axion emission would not have had a significant effect on the neutrino bursts detected by KII and IMB. The present work, together with our previous work, strongly suggests that an axion with mass in the interval 10{sup {minus}3} to 3 eV is excluded by the observation of neutrinos from SN 1987A.

• OSTI ID: 6260833
• Journal Information: Physical Review, D (Particles Fields); (USA), Journal Name: Physical Review, D (Particles Fields); (USA) Vol. 42:10; ISSN PRVDA; ISSN 0556-2821
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640102* -- Astrophysics & Cosmology-- Stars & Quasi-Stellar
Radio & X-Ray Sources
645204 -- High Energy Physics-- Particle Interactions & Properties-Theoretical-- Strong Interactions & Properties
645300 -- High Energy Physics-- Particle Invariance Principles & Symmetries
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS
ASTROPHYSICS
AXIONS
BARYON-BARYON INTERACTIONS
BOSONS
BREMSSTRAHLUNG
CHERENKOV COUNTERS
COOLING
DIFFUSION
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
ERUPTIVE VARIABLE STARS
FERMIONS
GOLDSTONE BOSONS
HADRON-HADRON INTERACTIONS
INTERACTIONS
LEPTONS
LUMINOSITY
MASS
MASSLESS PARTICLES
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MEAN FREE PATH
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
NEUTRINOS
NEUTRON STARS
NUCLEON-NUCLEON INTERACTIONS
OPTICAL PROPERTIES
PARTICLE INTERACTIONS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
POSTULATED PARTICLES
RADIATION DETECTORS
RADIATIONS
RADIATIVE COOLING
STARS
SUPERNOVAE
SYMMETRY BREAKING
TRAPPING
VARIABLE STARS