Transition Radiation by Standard Model Neutrinos at an Interface

TL;DR

This paper analyzes the process of neutrino-induced transition radiation at media interfaces, providing an accurate analytic probability estimate that surpasses previous results, with potential astrophysical implications.

Contribution

It offers the first accurate analytic calculation of neutrino transition radiation probability at media interfaces, improving upon prior estimates by three orders of magnitude.

Findings

Transition radiation probability for 1 MeV neutrinos at polyethylene-vacuum interface is about 10^{-39}.

At neutron star surfaces, the probability may reach 10^{-20}.

The calculated probability exceeds previous estimates by three orders of magnitude.

Abstract

We discuss the transition radiation process $\nu \to \nu \gamma$ at an interface of two media. The medium fulfills the dual purpose of inducing an effective neutrino-photon vertex and of modifying the photon dispersion relation. The transition radiation occurs when at least one of those quantities have different values in different media. We present a result for the probability of the transition radiation which is both accurate and analytic. For $E_\nu =1$MeV neutrino crossing polyethylene-vacuum interface the transition radiation probability is about $10^{-39}$ and the energy intensity (deposition) is about $10^{-34}$eV. At the surface of the neutron stars the transition radiation probability may be $\sim 10^{-20}$. Our result on three orders of magnitude is larger than the results of previous calculations.}