N3AS-26-004

Solar-System Abundances of p-Nuclides Probe Collective Neutrino Oscillations in Supernovae

Alexander Friedland, Derek J. Li, Giuseppe Lucente, Payel Mukhopadhyay, Ian Padilla-Gay, Amol V. Patwardhan .
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Abstract

Direct evidence for collective neutrino oscillations in core-collapse supernovae remains elusive. We show that this quantum phenomenon leaves a footprint on the abundance pattern of proton-rich nuclides in the solar system. Modeling the \nu p-process using a 20\,M_\odot progenitor, we map out the dependence of the total yields on the starting radius of the oscillations, self-consistently coupling hydrodynamics and nucleosynthesis. The oscillations boost key p-nuclides (^{92,94}\text{Mo}, ^{96,98}\text{Ru}) and long-lived ^{92}\text{Nb} by up to two orders of magnitude, bringing their abundances into agreement with the observations. The best match is found when oscillations commence within 10\text{ km} of the proto-neutron star surface, indicating fast collective oscillations.