Impact of active-sterile neutrino mixing on supernova explosion and nucleosynthesis
Abstract
We show that for the active-sterile flavor mixing parameters suggested by the reactor neutrino anomaly, substantial \\nu_e-\\nu_s and \bar \\nu_e-\bar \\nu_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.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1305.2382,
title = {Impact of active-sterile neutrino mixing on supernova explosion and nucleosynthesis},
author = {Meng-Ru Wu and Tobias Fischer and Lutz Huther and Gabriel Martínez-Pinedo and Yong-Zhong Qian},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1305.2382},
year = {2014}
}
Comments
5 pages, 4 figures; treatment of feedback on the evolution of electron fraction, corresponding integrated nucleosynthesis and effects on neutrino heating are included; references updated