Enhanced antineutrino emission from $\beta$ decay in core-collapse supernovae with self-consistent weak decay rates

TL;DR

This paper introduces a self-consistent simulation of core-collapse supernovae that incorporates microscopic $eta$ decay rates, revealing a significant increase in antineutrino emission and luminosity, which could refine models of stellar collapse and neutrino signals.

Contribution

First to include globally evaluated microscopic $eta$ decay rates in CCSNe simulations, enhancing the understanding of weak-interaction effects during stellar collapse.

Findings

Antineutrino emissivity increased by over 4 orders of magnitude due to $eta$ decay.

Antineutrino luminosity increased by 3 orders of magnitude.

Potential to improve predictions of neutrino signals in supernova observations.

Abstract

Nuclear weak-interaction rates are known to exert a prominent effect in the late-stages of stellar collapse. Despite their importance, most studies to date on core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe) have focused primarily on the effects of electron captures, generally neglecting $\beta$ decay contributions. In this Letter, we present the first CCSNe simulation incorporating global $\beta$ decay rates from a microscopic theory. These are enabled by a large-scale evaluation of both electron capture and $\beta$ decay rates, obtained self-consistently utilizing the relativistic energy density functional theory and finite-temperature quasiparticle random-phase approximation. We find a significant enhancement of antineutrino emissivity by more than 4 orders of magnitude due to the inclusion of $\beta$ decay rates, as well as 3 orders of magnitude for antineutrino luminosity. It is expected that these new rates could help us constrain the model uncertainties related to weak-interaction processes, improving the prediction of antineutrino signal during the final stages of stellar death and potentially influencing the late-stage evolution of massive stars.