The action of neutrino ponderomotive force on supernova dynamics

TL;DR

This paper investigates the influence of neutrino ponderomotive forces on supernova dynamics, concluding that these forces are negligible for shock revival but may induce other plasma processes.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of neutrino-plasma interactions in supernovae, highlighting the limited role of ponderomotive forces in shock revival.

Findings

Neutrino ponderomotive force has negligible effect on shock revival.

New convection and plasma cooling processes could be influenced by neutrino forces.

Ponderomotive effects are unlikely to be the key to supernova explosion mechanisms.

Abstract

Collective interactions of a beam of neutrinos/antineutrinos traversing a dense magnetized plasma of electrons/positrons, protons and neutrons are studied with particular reference to the case of a Supernova. We find that the ponderomotive force exerted by neutrinos gives, contrary to expectations, a negligible contribution to the revival of the shock for a successful Supernova explosion, although new types of convection and plasma cooling processes induced by the ponderomotive force could be, in principle, relevant for the dynamics itself.