Neutrino emission from a strongly magnetized degenerate electron gas: the Compton mechanism via a neutrino magnetic moment

TL;DR

This paper derives upper bounds on the neutrino magnetic moment by comparing weak and electromagnetic neutrino emission mechanisms in a strongly magnetized electron gas, with bounds close to existing astrophysical and laboratory limits.

Contribution

It introduces a method to constrain neutrino magnetic moments using the Compton-like process in a degenerate electron gas under strong magnetic fields.

Findings

Upper bounds on neutrino magnetic moments are close to existing limits.

The study compares electromagnetic and weak neutrino emission mechanisms.

Constraints are derived from astrophysical and laboratory considerations.

Abstract

We derive relative upper bounds on the effective magnetic moment of Dirac neutrinos from comparison of the standard weak and electromagnetic mechanisms of the neutrino luminosity due to the Compton-like photoproduction of neutrino pairs in a degenerate gas of electrons on the lowest Landau level in a strong magnetic field. These bounds are close to the known astrophysical and laboratory ones.