Transition Radiation by Standard Model Neutrinos at an Interface

Abstract

We discuss the transition radiation process $\nu \to \nu \gamma$ at an interface of two media. The medium fulfills the dual purpose of inducing an effective neutrino-photon vertex and of modifying the photon dispersion relation. The transition radiation occurs when at least one of those quantities have different values in different media. We present a result for the probability of the transition radiation which is both accurate and analytic. For $E_{\nu }=1$MeV neutrino crossing polyethylene-vacuum interface the transition radiation probability is about $10^{-39}$ and the energy intensity (deposition) is about $10^{-34}$eV. At the surface of the neutron stars the transition radiation probability may be $\sim 10^{-20}$. Our result on three orders of magnitude is larger than the results of previous calculations.}

Comments: invited talk, to appear in the proceedings of the XLVIth Rencontres de Moriond EW 2011