Revisiting nonstandard interaction effects on supernova neutrino flavor oscillations

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  • 27 February 2002
Abstract
Several extensions of the standard electroweak model allow new four-fermion interactions (nu_a nu_b * f f) with strength eps_ab*G_F, where (a,b) are flavor indices. We revisit their effects on supernova (anti)neutrino oscillations, in order to achieve an analytical treatment applicable to generic values of the neutrino mixing angles (omega,phi,psi) = (theta_12,theta_13,theta_23). Assuming that eps_ab << 1 we find that the leading effects on the flavor transitions occurring at high (H) and low (L) density along the supernova matter profile can be simply embedded through the replacements phi --> phi + eps_H and omega --> omega + eps_L, respectively, where eps_H and eps_L are specific linear combinations of the eps_ab's. Similar replacements hold for eventual oscillations in the Earth matter. From a phenomenological point of view, the most relevant consequence is a possible uncontrolled bias (phi --> phi + eps_H) in the value of the mixing angle phi inferred by inversion of supernova neutrino data. Such a drawback, however, does not preclude the discrimination of the neutrino mass spectrum hierarchy (direct or inverse) through supernova neutrino oscillations.

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