Supernova neutrino oscillations: what do we understand?

TL;DR

This paper reviews current knowledge on neutrino flavor conversions in supernovae, emphasizing collective effects and their implications for understanding neutrino properties and supernova mechanisms.

Contribution

It clarifies the role of collective effects in supernova neutrino oscillations and discusses their potential to inform neutrino physics and supernova models.

Findings

Collective effects significantly influence neutrino flavor conversions.

Neutrino spectra can help identify mixing scenarios.

Observations may distinguish between flux models.

Abstract

We summarize our current understanding of the neutrino flavor conversions inside a core collapse supernova, clarifying the important role played by the "collective effects" in determining flavor conversion probabilities. The potentially observable $\nu_e$ and $\bar{\nu}_e$ spectra may help us identify the neutrino mixing scenario, distinguish between primary flux models, and learn more about the supernova explosion.