Spin light of neutrino in astrophysical environments

Abstract

The spin light of neutrino (SLν) is a new possible mechanism of electromagnetic radiation by a massive neutrino (with a nonzero magnetic moment) moving in media. Since the prediction of this mechanism, the question has been debated in a number of publications as whether the effect can be of any significance for realistic astrophysical conditions. Although this effect is strongly suppressed due to smallness of neutrino magnetic moment, for ultrahigh energy neutrinos (PeV neutrinos recently observed by the IceCube collaboration, for instance) the SLν might be of interest in the case of neutrinos propagating in dense matter. An advanced view on the SLν in matter is given, and several astrophysical settings (a neutron star, supernova, Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB), and relic neutrino background) for which the effect can be realized are considered. Taking into account the threshold condition and also several competing processes, we determine conditions for which the SLν mechanism is possible. We conclude that the most favorable case of the effect manifestation is provided by ultra dense matter of neutron stars and ultrahigh energy of the radiating neutrino, and note that these conditions can be met within galaxy clusters. It is also shown that due to the SLν specific polarization properties this electromagnetic mechanism is of interest in the connection with the observed polarization of GRB emission.

Neutrino electromagnetic interactions: A window to new physics

“…When neutrinos propagate in a plasma, the SLν radiation is affected by the influence of the background plasma on the propagation of the emitted photons. This effect has been first discussed by Studenikin and Ternov (2005); Grigorev et al (2005); Grigoriev et al (2005bGrigoriev et al ( , 2006b and was further studied in Mikheev (2006b, 2007), where the role of the SLν plasmon mass was taken into account. In the case of ultra-high energy neutrino, the SLν rate of Mikheev (2006b, 2007) reproduces exactly the result obtained in Studenikin and Ternov (2005); Grigorev et al (2005); Grigoriev et al (2005bGrigoriev et al ( , 2006b.…”

“…This effect has been first discussed by Studenikin and Ternov (2005); Grigorev et al (2005); Grigoriev et al (2005bGrigoriev et al ( , 2006b and was further studied in Mikheev (2006b, 2007), where the role of the SLν plasmon mass was taken into account. In the case of ultra-high energy neutrino, the SLν rate of Mikheev (2006b, 2007) reproduces exactly the result obtained in Studenikin and Ternov (2005); Grigorev et al (2005); Grigoriev et al (2005bGrigoriev et al ( , 2006b. For a more detailed discussion on the historical aspects of this issue see Studenikin (2008); Grigoriev et al (2006a); Kuznetsov and Mikheev (2006a); Grigoriev et al (2008Grigoriev et al ( , 2009.…”

Neutrino spin and spin-flavor oscillations in transversal matter currents with standard and nonstandard interactions

“…The resonance amplification of the probability of the neutrino spin oscillations ν L e ⇐ (j ⊥ ) ⇒ ν R e by the longitudinal magnetic field has been also considered for an astrophysical environment that can be realized by models of short gamma-ray bursts (sGRB) (see [47] and [48]).…”

“…Consider, in particular, neutrino spin-flavor oscillations ν L e ⇐ (j ⊥ ) ⇒ ν R µ in an environment peculiar to models of short gamma-ray bursts [47,48] discussed in Sec. IV.2.…”

On possible application of spin light of neutrino in astrophysics

“…In this short note we try to outline a set of astrophysical environments that are most suitable for SLν applications . For this reason we review (see also [20]) the basics of the SLν and list the main SLν properties to show which parameters are the most crucial for the radiation efficiency.…”