The Physics Of Supernova Neutrino Oscillations

TL;DR

This paper discusses the complex physics of supernova neutrino oscillations, emphasizing how future observations could reveal detailed information about supernova dynamics, nuclear physics, and neutrino properties.

Contribution

It provides an overview of the physics underlying supernova neutrino oscillations and predicts what features future neutrino detections might reveal.

Findings

Neutrino signals contain time, energy, and flavor-dependent features.

Next-generation detectors will significantly increase data collection.

Understanding oscillation features can inform supernova physics and neutrino properties.

Abstract

On February 23, 1987 we collected 24 neutrinos from the explosion of a blue super-giant star in the Large Magellanic Cloud confirming the basic paradigm of core-collapse supernova. During the many years we have been waiting for a repeat of that momentous day, the number and size of neutrino detectors around the world has grown considerably. If the neutrinos from the next supernova in our Galaxy arrive tomorrow we shall collect upwards of tens of thousands of events and next generation detectors will increase the amount of data we collect by more than an order of magnitude. But it is also now apparent that the message is much more complex than previously thought because many time, energy and neutrino flavor dependent features are imprinted upon the signal either at emission or by the passage through the outer layers of the star. These features arise due to the explosion dynamics, the physics of nuclei at high temperatures and densities, and the properties of neutrinos. In this proceedings I will present some aspects of the physics of supernova neutrino oscillations and what we should expect to observe when the neutrinos from the next Galactic supernova (eventually) arrive.