Contrary to the current practice of simplifying studies by studying one taste while ignoring the other two, researchers in the new study created a nonlinear simulation of “fast conversion” when three neutrino flavors are present, with fast conversion labeled neutrinos that communicate and change aromas.
They removed the assumption that the three flavors of neutrinos, muon, electron, and tau neutrino, have the same angular distribution, giving them each a different distribution.
The double aroma of the same concept considers electronic neutrinos and “x” neutrinos, in which x can be a muon or tau neutrino and where the differences between the two are insignificant.
When a huge number of neutrinos are sent to the screen during a massive supernova explosion in the collapse of the nucleus, they begin to oscillate. Interactions between neutrinos change the properties and behavior of the entire system, creating a coupled relationship.
Therefore, when the neutrino density is high, part of the neutrino exchanges aromas. When different flavors are emitted in different directions deep within a star, conversions happen quickly and are called “fast conversions”.
Interestingly, the research showed that as the number of neutrinos grows, so does their conversion rate, regardless of mass, reports the Xinhua news agency.
“We’re trying to convince the community that when you consider these rapid conversions, you have to use all three tastes to understand it,” said senior author Manibrata Sen, a postdoctoral researcher currently based at the NU within the Nuclear, Nuclear Astrophysics and Symmetry Network at the University of California – Berkeley.
“A proper understanding of fast oscillations can actually be the key to why some stars explode from supernovae.”
In the next step, the researchers hope to make their results more generic by including spatial dimensions in addition to momentum and time components.
The study was published in the journal Physical Review Letters.