Fast neutrino flavor conversion: roles of dense matter and spectrum crossing

Abstract

The flavor conversion of a neutrino usually occurs at densities $\lesssim G_F^{-1} ω$, whether in the ordinary matter or the neutrino medium, and on time/distance scales of order $ω^{-1}$, where $G_F$ is the Fermi weak coupling constant and $ω$ is the vacuum oscillation frequency of the neutrino. In 2005 Sawyer and more recently both he and other groups have shown that neutrino flavor conversions can occur on scales much shorter than $ω^{-1}$ in a very dense, anisotropic neutrino gas such as that in a core-collapse supernova or a binary neutron star merger. It has also been suggested that the fast neutrino flavor conversion require a crossing in the electron lepton number (ELN) angular distribution or spectrum. We study a few simple analytical models with which we elucidate the roles of the dense matter and the ELN spectrum crossing in neutrino fast flavor conversions. We show that a large matter density can induce fast neutrino flavor conversions in certain astrophysical scenarios such as at the early epoch of a core-collapse supernova.