Chiral kinetic theory with self-energy corrections and neutrino spin Hall effect

TL;DR

This paper develops a comprehensive chiral kinetic theory incorporating self-energy corrections and applies it to neutrino transport in supernovae, revealing novel neutrino spin Hall effects influenced by density gradients.

Contribution

It introduces a systematic derivation of chiral kinetic equations with self-energy corrections from quantum field theory, extending the understanding of neutrino transport phenomena.

Findings

Derived neutrino currents along magnetic fields.

Predicted neutrino spin Hall effect due to density gradients.

Incorporated quantum and classical self-energy corrections into kinetic theory.

Abstract

We systematically derive the chiral kinetic theory for chiral fermions with collisions, including the self-energy corrections, from quantum field theories. We find that the Wigner functions and chiral kinetic equations receive both the classical and quantum corrections from the self-energies and their spacetime gradients. We also apply this formalism to study nonequilibrium neutrino transport due to the interaction with thermalized electrons and nucleons, as realized in core-collapse supernovae. We derive neutrino currents along magnetic fields and neutrino spin Hall effect induced by the density gradient at first order in the Fermi constant $G_{\rm F}$ for anisotropic neutrino distributions.