Neutrino Heating in Supernovae

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Abstract
I argue that standard descriptions of stellar collapse omit the primary mechanism for dissipative neutrino reactions in nuclear matter, nuclear excitation by neutral-current scattering. The nuclear heating rate, due primarily to muon- and tauon-neutrino excitation of giant resonance states, is on the order of 90 MeV/nucleon sec at a radius of 100 km. I discuss possible effects of both neutral- and charged-current neutrino heating in models of stellar collapse.