Pauli blocking: probing beyond-mean-field effects in neutrino flavor evolution
Manuel Goimil-Garc’ia, Shashank Shalgar, Irene Tamborra
arXiv:2412.12268v1 Announce Type: new
Abstract: Neutrino quantum kinetics in dense astrophysical environments is investigated relying on the mean-field approximation. However, it remains to be understood whether mean-field corrections could hinder flavor instabilities that are otherwise foreseen. In this paper, we heuristically explore whether beyond-mean-field effects due to neutrino degeneracy can affect the flavor conversion physics. We find that these corrections shift the stability regions for a suite of (anti)neutrino distributions; a configuration of angular distributions that is stable in the mean-field case can become unstable, or the flavor conversion of previously unstable ensembles can be damped. Our work should serve as a motivation for further understanding the limitations of the mean-field treatment.arXiv:2412.12268v1 Announce Type: new
Abstract: Neutrino quantum kinetics in dense astrophysical environments is investigated relying on the mean-field approximation. However, it remains to be understood whether mean-field corrections could hinder flavor instabilities that are otherwise foreseen. In this paper, we heuristically explore whether beyond-mean-field effects due to neutrino degeneracy can affect the flavor conversion physics. We find that these corrections shift the stability regions for a suite of (anti)neutrino distributions; a configuration of angular distributions that is stable in the mean-field case can become unstable, or the flavor conversion of previously unstable ensembles can be damped. Our work should serve as a motivation for further understanding the limitations of the mean-field treatment.