Verifying the failing supernova constraint on dark photons with two-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations

TL;DR

This study uses two-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations to test the impact of dark photons on supernova explosions, confirming constraints on their properties and aligning with previous post-processing results.

Contribution

First self-consistent 2D simulations of supernovae including dark photon production, verifying prior constraints and highlighting the need for broader parameter exploration.

Findings

Shock revival not occurring for $\epsilon ightarrow 3 imes 10^{-9}$

Photon-DP mixing parameter above this value can be excluded

Results agree with previous post-processing studies

Abstract

Recent studies on the dark photon (DP) production in collapsing stars argue that the cooling effect induced by DPs can hinder supernova explosions and lead to a ``failing supernova" constraint on the photon-DP mixing parameter $\epsilon$. In order to verify the idea, we perform two-dimensional neutrino-radiation hydrodynamic simulations coupled with the DP production with the masses of 0.3 and 0.45\,MeV. We find that the shock revival does not happen until the end of the simulations when $\epsilon\gtrsim3\times10^{-9}$. The photon-DP mixing parameter above this value can be excluded by the failing supernova argument. Interestingly, our constraint roughly coincides with the one reported by the previous studies which adopted the post-processing framework. This result motivates one to investigate a wider parameter range of DPs with self-consistent simulations and evaluate uncertainties in the constraint.