Speaker
Description
A core-collapse supernova (SN) offers an excellent astrophysical laboratory to
test non-zero neutrino magnetic moments. In particular, the neutronization burst
phase, which lasts for few tens of milliseconds post-bounce, is dominated by electron neutrinos and can offer exceptional discovery potential for transition magnetic
moments. We simulate the neutrino spectra from the burst phase in forthcoming
neutrino experiments like the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE),
and the Hyper-Kamiokande (HK), by taking into account spin-flavour conversions
of supernova neutrinos caused by interactions with ambient magnetic fields. We
find that the neutrino transition magnetic moments which can be explored by these
experiments for a galactic SN are an order to several orders of magnitude better
than the current terrestrial and astrophysical limits. Additionally, we also discuss
how this realization might provide light on three important neutrino properties: (a)
the Dirac/Majorana nature, (b) the neutrino mass ordering, and (c) the neutrino
mass-generation mechanism.
