Linear wave spectrum associated with collective neutrino-plasma interactions in the early universe

Abstract

The effects of collective neutrino-plasma interactions on the linear wave spectrum supported by a magnetized electron-positron plasma in the presence of a neutrino-antineutrino medium are investigated. When a pair-symmetric background neutrino-plasma medium is perturbed by space-charge waves (electrostatic waves associated with electron-positron charge separation), our analysis shows that the neutrino and antineutrino fluids also separate and the pair symmetry of the background medium is broken. The cosmological implications of this pair-symmetry breaking mechanism are briefly discussed.PACS numbers: 13.10.+q, 52.30.-q, 98.80.Cq 3/2MeV rad/sec) is larger than the neutrino-matter collision rate c/ℓ ν by a factor ω p ℓ ν /c ≃ 1.3 × 10 21 T −7/2 MeV , which is larger than unity when the neutrino-matter temperatures are smaller than 10 6 MeV. In addition, the ratio of the plasma frequency to the photon-matter collision rate (c/ℓ γ ≃ 4.8 × 10 17 T 3 MeV sec −1 ) is expressed as ω p ℓ γ /c ≃ 560 T −3/2 MeV , which exceeds unity for temperatures less than 70 MeV. Hence, the short-time evolution of the primordial neutrino-plasma medium (in the temperature range 1 MeV < T < 10 MeV) appears to be dominated by collective (collisionless) effects.

Methods of approaching decoherence in the flavor sector due to space-time foam

“…Consequently they have a short lifetime. The force on a neutrino ν due to the emitted electron-positron pair is [30] σ G συ n σ where n σ is the particle density of species σ in the medium and…”

“…Consequently they have a short lifetime. The force on a neutrino ν due to the emitted electron-positron pair is [30] σ G συ n σ where n σ is the particle density of species σ in the medium and Q and mass M emit electron-positron pairs for M > Q but as M → Q, the extremal black hole limit, the surface gravity κ → 0 and evaporation ceases ( see e.g. [31] and references therein).…”

Instabilities and propagation of neutrino magnetohydrodynamic waves in arbitrary direction

“…The neutrino-plasma coupling in magnetized media is a relevant issue in diverse situations, as near the core of proto-neutron stars, where it is a source of the free energy behind the stalled supernova shock [1]- [4]. Neutrino-driven wakefields and neutrino effective charge in magnetized electron-positron plasma [5,6], the magnetized Mikheilev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein effect of neutrino flavor conversion [7], spin waves coupled to neutrino beams [8], neutrino cosmology and the early universe [9], neutrino emission and collective processes in magnetized plasma, and neutrino-driven nonlinear waves in magnetized plasmas [10,11], are examples of neutrino influenced plasma phenomena. The existence of intense neutrino beams in general astrophysical plasma is well documented [12].…”

Neutrino-driven electrostatic instabilities in a magnetized plasma

“…The Mikheilev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein effect of neutrino flavor conversion is significantly influenced by strong magnetic fields, with possible implications on supernova evolution and other magnetized media [6]. Spin waves destabilized by neutrino beams in magnetized plasma [7], the linear spectrum in magnetized electronpositron coupled to neutrino-antineutrino species in the early universe and neutrino cosmology [8], the neutrino effective charge in magnetized pair plasma [9], neutrino emission via collective processes in magnetized plasma [10], nonlinear generation of waves by neutrinos in magnetized plasmas [11,12], the neutrino destabilizing effects on magnetosonic waves described by neutrino magnetohydrodynamics model [13] and the coupling between neutrino flavor oscillations and ion-acoustic waves [14] have been reported. In astrophysical plasmas in general, intense neutrino beams are ubiquitous, as in the lepton era of the early universe [15].…”