Plasma wave instabilities induced by neutrinos

TL;DR

This paper uses quantum field theory to analyze how intense neutrino fluxes influence plasma wave instabilities, revealing that supernova neutrinos cause linear Landau damping without nonlinear resonance effects.

Contribution

It establishes a connection between quantum field theory and classical kinetic theory in studying plasma-neutrino interactions, deriving dispersion relations and damping rates in this context.

Findings

Supernova neutrinos do not cause nonlinear plasma effects.

Neutrino flux induces linear Landau damping proportional to flux and G_F^2.

Theoretical framework links quantum field theory with classical plasma physics.

Abstract

Quantum field theory is applied to study the interaction of an electron plasma with an intense neutrino flux. A connection is established between the field theory results and classical kinetic theory. The dispersion relation and damping rate of the plasma longitudinal waves are derived in the presence of neutrinos. It is shown that Supernova neutrinos are never collimated enough to cause non-linear effects associated with a neutrino resonance. They only induce neutrino Landau damping, linearly proportional to the neutrino flux and $G_{\mathrm{F}}^{2}$.