Prospects of Fast Flavor Neutrino Conversion in Rotating Core-collapse Supernovae

Abstract

Abstract There is mounting evidence that neutrinos undergo fast flavor conversion (FFC) in core-collapse supernova (CCSN). In this paper, we investigate the roles of stellar rotation on the occurrence of FFC by carrying out axisymmetric CCSN simulations with full Boltzmann neutrino transport. Our result suggests that electron neutrino lepton number (ELN) angular crossings, which are the necessary and sufficient condition to trigger FFC, preferably occur in the equatorial region for rotating CCSNe. By scrutinizing the neutrino–matter interaction and neutrino radiation field, we find some pieces of evidence that the stellar rotation facilitates the occurrence of FFC. The low-electron-fraction region in the post-shock layer expands by centrifugal force, enhancing the disparity of neutrino absorption between electron-type neutrinos (ν e) and their anti-particles ( ν ¯ e ). This has a significant impact on the angular distribution of neutrinos in momentum space, in which ν e tends to be more isotropic than ν ¯ e ; consequently, ELN crossings emerge. The ELN crossing found in this study is clearly associated with rotation, which motivates further investigation on how the subsequent FFC influences explosion dynamics, nucleosynthesis, and neutrino signals in rotating CCSNe.