English

On the Effects of Quantum Decoherence in a Future Supernova Neutrino Detection

High Energy Physics - Phenomenology 2023-07-12 v2 High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena High Energy Physics - Theory

Abstract

Quantum decoherence effects in neutrinos, described by the open quantum systems formalism, serve as a gateway to explore potential new physics, including quantum gravity. Previous research extensively investigated these effects across various neutrino sources, imposing stringent constraints on the spontaneous loss of coherence. In this study, we demonstrate that even within the Supernovae environment, where neutrinos are released as incoherent states, quantum decoherence could influence the flavor equipartition of 3ν3\nu mixing. Additionally, we examine the potential energy dependence of quantum decoherence parameters (Γ=Γ0(E/E0)n\Gamma = \Gamma_0 (E/E_0)^n) with different power laws (n=0,2,5/2n = 0, 2, 5/2). Our findings indicate that future-generation detectors (DUNE, Hyper-K, and JUNO) can significantly constrain quantum decoherence effects under different scenarios. For a Supernova located 10 kpc away from Earth, DUNE could potentially establish 3σ3\sigma bounds of Γ6.2×1014\Gamma \leq 6.2 \times 10^{-14} eV in the normal mass hierarchy (NH) scenario, while Hyper-K could impose a 2σ2\sigma limit of Γ3.6×1014\Gamma \leq 3.6 \times 10^{-14} eV for the inverted mass hierarchy (IH) scenario with n=0n=0 - assuming no energy exchange between the neutrino subsystem and non-standard environment ([H,Vp]=0[H,V_p] = 0). These limits become even more restrictive for a closer Supernova. When we relax the assumption of energy exchange ([H,Vp]0[H,V_p] \neq 0), for a 10 kpc SN, DUNE can establish a 3σ3\sigma limit of Γ84.2×1028\Gamma_8 \leq 4.2 \times 10^{-28} eV for NH, while Hyper-K could constrain Γ81.3×1027\Gamma_8 \leq 1.3 \times 10^{-27} eV for IH (n=0n=0) with 2σ2\sigma, representing the most stringent bounds reported to date. Furthermore, we examine the impact of neutrino loss during propagation for future Supernova detection.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2306.17591,
  title  = {On the Effects of Quantum Decoherence in a Future Supernova Neutrino Detection},
  author = {Marcos V. dos Santos and Pedro C. de Holanda and Pedro Dedin Neto and Ernesto Kemp},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2306.17591},
  year   = {2023}
}