Presupernova Neutrinos: Realistic Emissivities from Stellar Evolution

Abstract

We present a new calculation of neutrino emissivities and energy spectra from a massive star going through the advanced stages of nuclear burning (presupernova) in the months before becoming a supernova. The contributions from β decay and electron capture, pair annihilation, plasmon decay, and the photoneutrino process are modeled in detail, using updated tabulated nuclear rates. We also use realistic conditions of temperature, density, electron fraction, and nuclear isotopic composition of the star from the state-of-the-art stellar evolution code MESA. Results are presented for a set of progenitor stars with mass between and . It is found that β processes contribute substantially to the neutrino emissivity above realistic detection thresholds of few MeV, at selected positions and times in the evolution of the star.