Yong Zhong Qian

Collective Neutrino Oscillations

We review the rich phenomena associated with neutrino flavor transformation in the presence of neutrino self-coupling. Our exposition centers on three collective neutrino oscillation scenarios: (a) a simple bipolar neutrino system that initially consists of monoenergetic νe and , (b) a homogeneous and isotropic neutrino gas with multiple neutrino/antineutrino species and continuous energy spectra, and (c) a generic neutrino gas in an anisotropic environment. We use each of these scenarios to illustrate key facets of collective neutrino oscillations. We discuss the implications of collective neutrino flavor oscillations for core-collapse supernova physics and for the prospects of obtaining and/or constraining fundamental neutrino properties, such as the neutrino mass hierarchy and θ13 from a future observed supernova neutrino signal.

Where, oh where has the r-process gone?

We present a review of the possible sources for r-process nuclei (r-nuclei). It is known that there is as yet no self-consistent mechanism to provide abundant neutrons for a robust r-process in the neutrino-driven winds from nascent neutron stars. We consider that the heavy r-nuclei with mass numbers A>130 (Ba and above) cannot be produced in the neutrino-driven winds. Nonetheless, the r-process and the neutrino-driven winds may be directly or indirectly related by some unknown additional mechanism, which, for example, could provide ejecta with very short dynamic timescales of ≾0.004 s. This undetermined mechanism must supply a neutron source within the same general stellar sites that undergo core collapse to produce the neutron star. Observational data on low-metallicity stars in the Galactic halo show that sites producing the heavy r-nuclei do not produce Fe or any other elements between N and Ge. Insofar as a forming neutron star is key to producing the heavy r-nuclei, then the only possible sources are supernovae resulting from collapse of O–Ne–Mg cores or accretion-induced collapse of white dwarfs, neither of which produce the elements of the Fe group or those of intermediate mass (above C and N). Observational evidence on s and r-nuclei in low-metallicity stars with high C and N abundances shows that the r-process is also active in binary systems. The nuclei with A∼90–110 produced by charged-particle reactions (CPR) in the neutrino-driven winds are in general present in metal-poor stars with high or low abundances of heavy r-nuclei. The CPR nuclei and the heavy r-nuclei are not strongly coupled. Some metal-poor stars show extremely high enrichments of heavy r-nuclei and have established that the abundance patterns of these nuclei are universally close to the solar abundance pattern of heavy r-nuclei. Using a template star with high enrichments of heavy r-nuclei and another with low enrichments we develop a two-component model based on the abundances of Eu (from sources for heavy r-nuclei) and Fe (from Fe core-collapse supernovae). This model gives very good quantitative predictions for the abundances of all the other elements in those metal-poor stars with [Fe/H]≲-1.5 for which the Eu and Fe abundances are known. We attribute the CPR elements such as Sr, Y, and Zr to reactions in the neutrino-driven winds from a nascent neutron star and the heavy r-nuclei to the hypothecated true “r-process”. The CPR nuclei should be produced whenever a neutron star is formed regardless of whether heavy r-nuclei are produced or not. Using the two-component model we estimate the yield of the CPR element Sr to be ∼10^(-6)M_⊙ for a single neutron star formation event. Self-consistent astrophysical models are needed to establish that the CPR nuclei are common to the neutron stars produced in both sources for the heavy r-nuclei and those for Fe. We show that the observational data appear fully consistent with the two-component model. The specific mechanism and site for the production of heavy r-nuclei remains to be found.

Abundance Analysis of HE 2148–1247, A Star with Extremely Enhanced Neutron Capture Elements*

Abundances for 27 elements in the very metal-poor dwarf star HE 2148-1247 are presented, including many of the neutron capture elements. We establish that HE 2148-1247 is a very highly s-process-enhanced star with anomalously high Eu as well, Eu/H ~ half-solar, demonstrating the large addition of heavy nuclei at [Fe/H] = -2.3 dex. Ba and La are enhanced by a somewhat larger factor and reach the solar abundance, while Pb significantly exceeds it, thus demonstrating the addition of substantial s-process material. Ba/Eu is 10 times the solar r-process ratio but much less than that of the s-process, indicating a substantial r-process addition as well. C and N are also very highly enhanced. We have found that HE 2148-1247 is a radial velocity variable; it is probably a small-amplitude long-period binary. The C, N, and the s-process element enhancements were thus presumably produced through mass transfer from a former asymptotic giant branch (AGB) binary companion. The large enhancement of heavy r-nuclides also requires an additional source as this is far above any inventory in the interstellar medium at such low [Fe/H]. We consider that the s-process material was added by mass transfer of a more massive companion during its thermally pulsating AGB phase and ending up as a white dwarf. We further hypothesize that accretion onto the white dwarf from the envelope of the star caused accretion-induced collapse of the white dwarf, forming a neutron star, which then produced heavy r-nuclides and again contaminated its companion. This mechanism in a binary system can thus enhance the envelope of the lower mass star in s- and r-process material sequentially. Through analysis of the neutron capture element abundances taken from the literature for a large sample of very metal-poor stars, we demonstrate, as exemplified by HE 2148-1247, that mass transfer in a suitable binary can be very efficient in enhancing the heavy elements in a star; it appears to be capable of enhancing the s-process elements in very metal-poor stars to near the solar abundance but not substantially above it. The yield of Pb relative to Ba appears to vary among very metal-poor stars.

Stellar Sources for Heavy r-Process Nuclei

The stellar sites and the complete mechanism of r-process nucleosynthesis are still unresolved issues. From consideration of the observed abundances in metal-poor stars, it is proposed that the production of heavy r-process nuclei (r-nuclei with mass numbers A > 130) is not related to the production of Fe group elements or of elements with lower atomic numbers: Na, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Sc, and Ti. This requires that the production of heavy r-nuclei not occur in supernovae with extended shell structure but be associated with either bare neutron stars or Type II supernovae (SNe II) in the mass range 8 M_☉ < M < 10 M_☉. From the observations of stars with [Fe/H] ~ -3 but with high abundances of r-elements, it is clear that these r-process enrichments cannot represent the composition of the interstellar medium from which the stars were formed but must represent very local contamination from binary companions. Further evidence for very high enrichments of s-process elements in metal-poor stars also requires binary systems for explanation. We propose that the accretion-induced collapse (AIC) of a white dwarf into a neutron star in a binary system may be associated with the production of heavy r-nuclei and may provide occasional coupling of high r-process and high s-process enrichments in the envelopes of low-mass stars with low [Fe/H]. If we assume that the bulk of the heavy r-nuclei are produced in AIC events, then these events would have produced ~1.6 × 109 neutron stars in the Galaxy. A much larger number of white dwarf binaries would have resulted from the evolution of other binary systems. The AIC scenario removes the assignment in our earlier model that SNe II provide the bulk of heavy r-nuclei and relegates r-process production in SNe II to light r-nuclei with A ≾ 130. This new assignment gives Fe yields that are in accord with the observed values for most SNe II.

Constraints on the variations of the fundamental couplings

We reconsider several current bounds on the variation of the fine-structure constant in models where all gauge and Yukawa couplings vary in an interdependent manner, as would be expected in unified theories. In particular, we reexamine the bounds established by the Oklo reactor from the resonant neutron capture cross section of

Supernovae versus neutron star mergers as the major r-process sources

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Neutrino-neutrino scattering and matter-enhanced neutrino flavor transformation in supernovae

By imposing variations in

Abundances of Sr, Y, and Zr in Metal-Poor Stars and Implications for Chemical Evolution in the Early Galaxy

{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}_{\mathrm{QCD}}

Neutrino Mass Hierarchy and Stepwise Spectral Swapping of Supernova Neutrino Flavors

and the quark masses, as dictated by unified theories, the corresponding bound on the variation of the fine-structure constant can be improved by about 2 orders of magnitude in such theories. In addition, we consider possible bounds on variations due to their effect on long lived \ensuremath{\alpha}- and \ensuremath{\beta}-decay isotopes, particularly

A Model for Abundances in Metal-poor Stars

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