Speaker: Erwin Tanin (Stanford)
Title: Gradient-produced neutrinos and their observable implications
Room: 3024
Host: Hsin-Chia Cheng
Abstract: I present ongoing work on a previously underexplored Standard Model mechanism with potentially important consequences. It is well known that sufficiently strong electric fields can produce charged‑particle pairs via the Schwinger effect. We argue that steep matter‑density gradients, as can arise in neutron star interiors, can analogously produce neutrino–antineutrino pairs. We discuss observational signatures of these gradient‑produced (anti)neutrinos and how they could provide new probes of neutron‑star structure and baryon-dense QCD.
