1. Two-dimensional models of core-collapse supernova explosions assisted by heavy sterile neutrinos
- Author
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Mori, Kanji, Takiwaki, Tomoya, Kotake, Kei, and Horiuchi, Shunsaku
- Subjects
Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena ,High Energy Physics - Phenomenology - Abstract
Core-collapse supernovae can be a copious source of sterile neutrinos, hypothetical particles that mix with active neutrinos. We develop two-dimensional stellar core-collapse models that incorporate the mixing between tau neutrinos and heavy sterile neutrinos -- those with the mass of 150--200 MeV -- to investigate signatures of sterile neutrinos in supernova observables. We find that the decay channel of a sterile neutrino into a pion and a tau neutrino can enhance the explosion energy and the synthesized nickel mass. Although the inclusion of sterile neutrinos considered in this study slightly reduce the neutrino and gravitational-wave signals, we find that they are still detectable for a Galactic event. Furthermore, we point out that if sterile neutrinos are as massive as ~200 MeV, they produce high-energy tau antineutrinos with energies of ~80 MeV, the detection of which can be a smoking signature of the sterile neutrinos and where Hyper-Kamiokande should play a pivotal role., Comment: 18 pages, 14 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in PRD
- Published
- 2024