Possible Weak Interaction of Photons and Emission of Neutrinos from Stars

Abstract

It was proposed in an earlier paper that photons can interact weakly with neutrinos. The astrophysical implications of this interaction are here investigated. The energy loss rates for the pair-annihilation process $e^{-}+e^{+}\to \nu +\overline{\nu }$ and the photon-photon process $\gamma +\gamma \to \nu +\overline{\nu }$ are obtained, using this weak-interaction property of photons. The neutrino luminosity due to the pair-annihilation process is estimated according to the present theory and is compared with that calculated on the basis of the current-current coupling theory. Some theoretical aspects of the assumed photon-neutrino weak coupling are also discussed.