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Nonconservation of Lepton Numbers in the Neutrino Sector Could Change the Prospects for Core Collapse Supernova Explosions

Anna M. Suliga1,2,3,4,*, Patrick Chi-Kit Cheong (張志杰)1,5,†, Julien Froustey1,3,6,‡, George M. Fuller3,§, Lukáš Gráf1,3,7,8,∥, Kyle Kehrer3,¶, Oliver Scholer9,**, and Shashank Shalgar10,††

  • *Contact author: a.suliga@nyu.edu
  • †Contact author: patrick.cheong@berkeley.edu
  • ‡Contact author: jfroustey@berkeley.edu
  • §Contact author: gfuller@physics.ucsd.edu
  • ∥Contact author: lukas.graf@nikhef.nl
  • Contact author: kkehrer@ucsd.edu
  • **Contact author: scholer@mpi-hd.mpg.de
  • ††Contact author: shashank.shalgar@nbi.ku.dk
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 134, 241002 – Published 18 June, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/gnp5-4y8k

Abstract

We show that interactions violating the conservation of lepton numbers in the neutrino sector could significantly alter the standard low entropy picture for the presupernova collapsing core of a massive star. A rapid neutrino-antineutrino equilibration leads to entropy generation and enhanced electron capture and, hence, a lower electron fraction than in the standard model. This would affect the downstream core evolution, the prospects for a supernova explosion, and the emergent neutrino signal. If realized by lepton-number-violating neutrino self-interactions (LNV νSI), the relevant mediator mass and coupling ranges can be probed by future accelerator-based experiments.

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 134, 241002– Published 18 June, 2025
  • Received 10 October 2024
  • Revised 24 March 2025
  • Accepted 16 May 2025
Article part of CHORUS
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal "citation, and DOI.

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