An Active-Sterile Neutrino Transformation Solution for r-Process Nucleosynthesis

Abstract

We discuss how matter-enhanced active-sterile neutrino transformation in both neutrino and antineutrino channels could enable the production of the rapid neutron capture (r-process) nuclei in neutrino-heated supernova ejecta. In this scheme the lightest sterile neutrino would be heavier than the electron neutrino and split from it by a vacuum mass-squared difference roughly between 3 and 70 eV${}^2$ and vacuum mixing angle given by ${\sin }^{2}2{\theta }_{es}>10^{-4}$.

Comments: 27 pages plus twelve figures. Submitted to Phys. Rev. C