Testing the Origins of Neutrino Mass with Supernova Neutrino Time Delay

TL;DR

This paper proposes using supernova neutrino time delays to differentiate between vacuum and dark matter-induced neutrino masses, with simulations indicating DUNE can achieve this distinction with high confidence.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method to identify the origin of neutrino mass by analyzing supernova neutrino arrival times affected by dark matter interactions.

Findings

DUNE can distinguish neutrino mass origins at over 5σ confidence.

Neutrino time delays depend on dark matter density profiles and supernova location.

The method is sensitive to local neutrino mass values and mass ordering.

Abstract

The origin of neutrino masses remains unknown. Both the vacuum mass and the dark mass generated by the neutrino interaction with dark matter (DM) particles or fields can fit the current oscillation data. The dark mass squared is proportional to the DM number density and therefore varies on the galactic scale with much larger values around the Galactic Center. This affects the group velocity and the arrival time delay of core-collapse supernovae (SN) neutrinos. This time delay, especially for the $\nu_e$ neutronization peak with a sharp time structure, can be used to distinguish the vacuum and dark neutrino masses. For illustration, we explore the potential of DUNE which is sensitive to $\nu_e$. Our simulations show that DUNE can distinguish the two neutrino mass origins at more than $5\sigma\,$C.L., depending on the observed local value of neutrino mass, the neutrino mass ordering, the DM density profile, and the SN location.