Linking neutrino oscillations to the nucleosynthesis of elements

TL;DR

This paper explores how neutrino oscillations influence element formation in explosive astrophysical events, emphasizing the importance of modeling flavor evolution, matter interactions, and hydrodynamics for accurate nucleosynthesis predictions.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive approach to simulate neutrino flavor oscillations, matter composition, and hydrodynamics simultaneously in supernova environments.

Findings

Time evolution of collective neutrino oscillations affects nucleosynthesis outcomes.

Active-sterile neutrino mixing impacts flavor evolution deep inside supernovae.

A consistent modeling framework is necessary for accurate predictions.

Abstract

Neutrino interactions with matter play an important role in determining the nucleosynthesis outcome in explosive astrophysical environments such as core-collapse supernovae or mergers of compact objects. In this article, we first discuss our recent work on the importance of studying the time evolution of collective neutrino oscillations among active flavors in determining their effects on nucleosynthesis. We then consider the possible active-sterile neutrino mixing and demonstrate the need of a consistent approach to evolve neutrino flavor oscillations, matter composition, and the hydrodynamics when flavor oscillations can happen very deep inside the supernovae.