Abstract
Stellar evolution, the theory of how stars evolve, relies on observations of many stars of different masses, colors, ages, and chemical composition. The energy of stars is provided by nuclear fusion reactions in their core, and their evolution is strongly dependent upon their mass. The Sun, through the Standard Solar Model, is the only star for which the stellar evolution theory can be deeply tested through neutrinos emitted from various thermonuclear processes. The experimental study of solar neutrinos has made a fundamental contribution both to astroparticle and to elementary particle physics, offering an ideal test of solar models and providing, at the same time, fundamental indications concerning the physics of the neutrino sector. The solar neutrino experiments (with atmospheric neutrinos) have given compelling evidence for the existence of neutrino oscillations caused by nonzero neutrino masses and neutrino mixing. This has a huge impact on particle physics. It also has consequences on the prediction of the neutrino flavor composition from high-energy neutrino sources. Neutrinos do not only play a key role during the life of a star. When a massive star has exhausted its hydrogen, it evolves by producing energy through the fusion of heavier elements up to iron. Neutrinos produced during such reactions escape unimpeded from the stellar material and more and more intense nuclear burning is needed to replace the huge amount of energy carried away. Once the inner region of a star becomes primarily iron, further compression of the core no longer ignites nuclear fusion; the star collapses to form a compact object such as a neutron star or a black hole. A prominent prediction from theoretical models of the core-collapse of a massive star is that 99% of the gravitational binding energy of the resulting remnant is converted to neutrinos with energies of a few tens of MeV over a timescale of 10 s. Neutrinos were observed from the celebrated 1987A supernova in the Large Magellanic Cloud, the first event of multimessenger astrophysics.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
This is usually called normal ordering or Normal Hierarchy . Another possible solution is the case with 0 < m 3 ≪ m 1 < m 2, which corresponds to an inverted ordering or Inverted Hierarchy . We do not consider these aspects of ν physics.
References
J.N. Abdurashitov et al., Measurement of the solar neutrino capture rate with gallium metal. III. Results for the 2002–2007 data-taking period. Phys. Rev. C 80, 015807 (2009)
K. Abe et al., Solar neutrino results in Super-Kamiokande-III. Phys. Rev. D 83, 052010 (2011)
F. Acero et al., HESS Collab., First detection of VHE gamma-rays from SN1006 by H.E.S.S. Astron. Astrophys. 516, A62 (2010)
B. Aharmim et al., Electron energy spectra, fluxes, and day-night asymmetries of 8B solar neutrinos from the 391-day salt phase SNO data set. Phys. Rev. C 72, 055502 (2005)
Q.R. Ahmad et al., Direct evidence for neutrino flavor transformation from neutral-current interactions in the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory. Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 011301 (2002)
M. Altmann et al., Complete results for five years of GNO solar neutrino observations. Phys. Lett. B 616, 174 (2005)
P. Antonioli et al., SNEWS: the SuperNova Early Warning System. New J. Phys. 6, 114 (2004)
V. Antonelli, L. Miramonti, C. Pe\(\tilde {n}\)a Garay, A. Serenelli, Solar neutrinos. Adv. High Energy Phys. 2013, 34 pp (2013); Article ID 351926. https://doi.org/10.1155/2013/351926
M. Asplund, N. Grevesse, A.J. Sauval, P. Scott, The chemical composition of the Sun. Annu. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 47, 481 (2009)
H. Athar, M. Jezabek, O. Yasuda, Effects of neutrino mixing on high-energy cosmic neutrino flux. Phys. Rev. D62, 103007 (2000)
J.N. Bahcall, Neutrino Astrophysics (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1989). ISBN: 978-0521379755. The Solar Standard Model is also described on the website: http://www.sns.ias.edu/jnb/
J. Beringer et al., Particle data group, The review of particle physics. Section: 13. Neutrino mass, mixing, and oscillations. Phys. Rev. D86, 010001 (2012)
H.A. Bethe, Supernova mechanisms. Rev. Mod. Phys. 62, 801 (1990)
Borexino Collaboration, Neutrinos from the primary proton-proton fusion process in the Sun. Nature 512, 383 (2014)
S. Braibant, G. Giacomelli, M. Spurio, Particle and Fundamental Interactions (Springer, Berlin, 2011). ISBN: 978-9400724631
S. Braibant, G. Giacomelli, M. Spurio, Particles and Fundamental Interactions: Supplements, Problems and Solutions (Springer, Dordrecht, 2012)
C. Broggini, D. Bemmerer, A. Guglielmetti, R. Menegazzo, LUNA: nuclear astrophysics deep underground. Annu. Rev. Nucl. Part. Sci. 60, 53–73 (2010)
F. Calaprice, C. Galbiati, A. Wright, A. Ianni, Results from the Borexino solar neutrino experiment. Annu. Rev. Nucl. Part. Sci. 62, 315–336 (2012)
G.L. Fogli et al., Global analysis of neutrino masses, mixings and phases: entering the era of leptonic CP violation searches. Phys. Rev. D86, 013012 (2012)
Y. Fukuda et al., Solar neutrino data covering solar cycle 22. Phys. Rev. Lett. 77, 1683 (1996)
J. Gava, J. Kneller, C. Volpe, G.C. McLaughlin, A dynamical collective calculation of supernova neutrino signals. Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 071101 (2009)
W. Hampel et al., GALLEX solar neutrino observations: results for GALLEX IV. Phys. Lett. B 447, 127 (1999)
W. Haxton, The scientific life of John Bahcall. Annu. Rev. Nucl. Part. Sci. 59, 1–20 (2009)
W.C. Haxton, R.G. Hamish Robertson, A.M. Serenelli, Solar neutrinos: status and prospects. Annu. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 51, 21–61 (2013)
A. Hoeflich, E. Mueller, P. Hoeflich, Light curves of type IA supernova models with different explosion mechanisms. Astron. Astrophys. 270, 223–248 (1993)
H.Th. Janka et al., Theory of core-collapse Supernovae. Phys. Rep. 442, 38 (2007)
N. Jelley, A.B. McDonald, R.G.H. Robertson, The sudbury neutrino observatory. Annu. Rev. Nucl. Part. Sci. 59, 431–465 (2009)
R. Kippenhahn, A. Weigert, Stellar Structure and Evolution (Springer, Berlin, 1990)
M. Koshiba, Observational neutrino astrophysics. Phys. Rep. 220, 229–381 (1992)
K. Lande, The life of Raymond Davis, Jr. and the beginning of neutrino astronomy. Annu. Rev. Nucl. Part. Sci. 59, 21–39 (2009)
P. Lipari, Introduction to neutrino physics, in 1st CERN—CLAF School of High-energy Physics, Itacuruca, Brazil (2001). http://cds.cern.ch/record/677618/files/p115.pdf
L.A. Marschall, The Supernova Story (Princeton Science Library, Princeton, 1988). ISBN: 978-0691036335
C. Patrignani et al. (Particle data group), Chin. Phys. C 40, 100001 (2016/2017)
G. Raffelt, Particle physics from stars. Annu. Rev. Nucl. Part. Sci. 49, 163 (1999)
K. Scholberg, Supernova neutrino detection. Annu. Rev. Nucl. Part. Sci. 62, 81 (2012)
A.M. Serenelli, W.C. Haxton, C. Pena-Garay, Solar models with accretion. I. Application to the solar abundance problem. Astrophys. J. 743, 24 (2011)
M.B. Smy et al., SK Collab., Super-Kamiokande’s solar ν. Nucl. Phys. B Proc. Suppl. 49, 235–236 (2013)
F.-K. Thielemann et al., Neutron star mergers and nucleosynthesis of heavy elements. Annu. Rev. Nucl. Part. Sci. 67, 253 (2017)
S.E. Woosley, A. Heger, T.A. Weaver, The evolution and explosion of massive stars. Rev. Mod. Phys. 74, 1015 (2002)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Spurio, M. (2018). Low-Energy Neutrino Physics and Astrophysics. In: Probes of Multimessenger Astrophysics. Astronomy and Astrophysics Library. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96854-4_12
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96854-4_12
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-96853-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-96854-4
eBook Packages: Physics and AstronomyPhysics and Astronomy (R0)