Neutrino magnetohydrodynamic instabilities in presence of two-flavor oscillations

Abstract

The influence of neutrino flavor oscillations on the propagation of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves and instabilities is studied in neutrino-beam driven magnetoplasmas. Using the neutrino MHD model, a general dispersion relation is derived which manifests the resonant interactions of MHD waves, not only with the neutrino beam, but also with the neutrino flavor oscillations. It is found that the latter contribute to the wave dispersion and enhance the magnitude of the instability of oblique magnetosonic waves. However, the shear-Alfvén wave remains unaffected by the neutrino beam and neutrino flavor oscillations. Such an enhancement of the magnitude of the instability of magnetosonic waves can be significant for relatively long-wavelength perturbations in the regimes of high neutrino number density and/or strong magnetic field, giving a convincing mechanism for type-II core-collapse supernova explosion.