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Updated: Jul 18, 2025

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Setting Limits on Supersymmetry Using Simplified Models
Published on: November 15, 2013
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Fast Neutrino Flavor Conversions Can Help and Hinder Neutrino-Driven Explosions
Jakob Ehring1,2,3, Sajad Abbar1, Hans-Thomas Janka2
1Max-Planck-Institut für Physik (Werner-Heisenberg-Institut), Föhringer Ring 6, D-80805 München, Germany.
Physical Review Letters
|August 25, 2023
Summary
Fast neutrino flavor conversion (FFC) simulations show mixed effects on core-collapse supernovae. FFC aids explosions in low-mass stars but hinders them in higher-mass progenitors.
Area of Science:
- Astrophysics
- Nuclear Physics
- Computational Science
Background:
- Core-collapse supernovae (SNe) are crucial for cosmic element distribution.
- Neutrino flavor conversion is a proposed mechanism influencing SN explosions.
- Previous simulations lacked detailed treatment of fast neutrino flavor conversion (FFC).
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of FFC on core-collapse supernova dynamics.
- To explore how FFC affects SN explosion outcomes for different progenitor masses.
- To present the first 3D simulations incorporating FFC feedback.
Main Methods:
- Axial symmetry simulations of core-collapse supernovae.
- Schematic treatment of FFC assuming instantaneous flavor equilibration.
- Systematic variation of the spatial domain for FFC.
Main Results:
- FFC facilitates SN explosions in low-mass progenitors (9-12 M☉).
- FFC delays or weakens explosions in higher-mass progenitors (around 20 M☉).
- The spatial extent of FFC significantly influences explosion outcomes.
Conclusions:
- FFC plays a complex role in core-collapse supernovae.
- The impact of FFC is progenitor-mass dependent.
- Further research is needed to refine FFC models in SN simulations.
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