Neutrino-driven instabilities in very dense plasmas

¹  Institut für Theoretische Physik IV, Ruhr-Universität Bochum - D-44780 Bochum, Germany
²  Instituto de Física, Universidade Federal Fluminense - 24210-340, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Received: 29 June 2007
Accepted: 7 September 2007

Abstract

Nonlinear interactions between intense neutrino bursts and electrostatic plasma oscillations in a very dense Fermi plasma are considered. By using the fluid description for intense neutrino bursts and the quantum hydrodynamic model for a dense Fermi plasma, we derive a system of equations that exhibit nonlinear couplings between neutrinos and electrostatic electron plasma waves/ion-acoustic oscillations. The latter incorporate the appropriate electron pressure law and the quantum force involving the strong electron density correlation in a dense Fermi plasma. The governing equations are Fourier transformed and combined to deduce the dispersion relations, which admit instabilities. It is found that for dense Fermi plasmas under extreme conditions, such as those in the interior of massive white dwarfs, the neutrino driven electrostatic instabilities develop rapidly, and they can be responsible for the neutrino energy absorption in dense astrophysical Fermi plasmas.