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# BeppoSAX Observations of LINER-2 Galaxies

## 1 Introduction

Low Ionization nuclear emission line regions (LINER) galaxies (Heckman 1980) constitute a significant fraction (33 per cent) of nearby galaxies (Ho, Filippenko & Sargent 1997), and yet the origin of their activity remains under debate. Ho et al. (1997) showed that a small fraction ($``$ 20 per cent) of LINERs are most probably Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) as they present broad $`H_\alpha `$ emission line wings in their optical spectra. These were classified as LINER-1, while the remaining LINERs with no broad $`H_\alpha `$ emission were named LINER-2, in analogy with the existing classification of Seyfert galaxies.

The X-ray emission of LINER-2 provides further clues on the origin of these objects. If LINER-2 are also AGN, in analogy with the obscuration model of Seyfert-2 galaxies (Antonucci & Miller 1985), their X-ray spectra should show evidence of a strong absorption and large equivalent width FeK emission lines. For example the spectrum of the LINER-1.9 NGC1052 (Weaver et al. 1999) shows obscuration by a large column density ($`N_H3\times 10^{23}`$ $`\mathrm{cm}^2`$) and an FeK line with an equivalent width of 0.3 keV. In contrast, the BeppoSAX X-ray spectrum of the LINER-1.9 NGC3998 (Pellegrini et al. 2000) shows neither evidence for obscuration nor for an Fe line. Terashima et al. (2000a) and Roberts, Schurch & Warwick (2001) studied, with ASCA, about a dozen of type-2 LINER galaxies from the spectroscopic sample of Ho et al. (1997). The spectra present slopes with typically $`\mathrm{\Gamma }1.8`$ and no evidence for absorption. Terashima et al. (2000a) and Roberts et al. (2001) find no strong evidence for the presence of an FeK line. Furthermore, Terashima et al. (2000b) find that if LINER-2 are low luminosity AGN (LLAGN), their X-ray luminosities are insufficient to power their $`H_\alpha `$ luminosities. This suggests an extra source of ionizing radiation (possibly hot stars) or that the AGN, if present, are Compton thick i.e. they are obscured even in the 2-10 keV energy band. In the latter case Terashima et al. (2000b) postulate that we may be observing the scattered component of the nuclear X-ray emission in a similar manner to Compton thick Seyfert-2 galaxies such as NGC1068 (Matt et al 2000). Finally, imaging observations of LINER-2 galaxies using ROSAT data (eg Komossa et al. 1999, Roberts et al. 2001) show evidence for extension in soft X-ray energies. Terashima et al. (2000a) report evidence for extension in hard ASCA X-ray images of NGC4111 and NGC4569 suggesting that a large fraction of the hard X-ray emission does not originate from an AGN. More recently, Ho et al. (2001) present snapshot observations of a sample of 24 nearby galaxies containing many LINER-2. Their preliminary analysis which is confined to the nuclear properties, shows very low levels of nuclear emission in most cases.

Here, we expand significantly the samples of Terashima et al. and Roberts et al. by exploring the X-ray spectral properties of 6 type-2 LINERs from the spectroscopic sample of nearby galaxies of Ho et al. (1997). We perform spectroscopic and variability analysis using the BeppoSAX X-ray mission. The majority of the BeppoSAX  observations are presented here for the first time. Although ASCAobservations exist for some of our objects, the hard X-ray response of the PDS instrument onboard BeppoSAX gives the opportunity to study the X-ray spectra of LINER-2 galaxies in the ultra-hard ($`>`$10 keV) X-ray regime. Finally, our BeppoSAX analysis is augmented by presenting two public Chandra ACIS-S imaging observations of NGC3627 and NGC5195.

## 2 The sample

We selected LINER-2 objects from the Ho et al. (1997) spectroscopic sample of galaxies which are contained in the public BeppoSAX database. The Ho et al. (1997) sample contains medium resolution, high signal to noise nuclear spectra of nearby galaxies ($`B_T<12.5`$) in the Northern Hemisphere ($`\delta >0`$). We also included transition objects i.e. emission line nuclei whose optical have \[OI\] strenghts intermediate between those of HII nuclei and LINERS (see table 5 of Ho et al. 1997 for the definition of the optical line ratio of the transition objects). Ho et al. (1997) propose that the transition objects can be normal LINERS whose spectra are diluted by nearby HII regions (but see also Barth & Shields 2000). Hereafter, we refer to type-2 LINER and transition objects as LINER-2 galaxies. The sample consists of 6 objects. Although the BeppoSAX  MECS and LECS data of NGC3379 and NGC4125 have been previously reported by Trinchieri et al. (2000), we re-do the spectral analysis for the sake of uniformity; furthermore the variability as well as PDS spectral analysis are presented here for the first time. Two more low luminosity active galaxies (excluding Seyfert galaxies) from the Ho et al. sample were found in the public BeppoSAX database: NGC3998 and NGC4631; NGC3998 is a LINER-1.9 galaxy whose BeppoSAX data have been previously analysed by Pellegrini et al. (2000) while NGC4631 is a star-forming galaxy whose BeppoSAX observations, to our knowledge, have not been presented before. We analyse these two galaxies as well in order to compare their properties with those of LINER-2. Table 1 lists our sample: in columns (2), (3) and (4) we give the object classification, distance in Mpc (as given in Ho et al. 1997) and the Galactic column density (Dickey & Lockman 1990) respectively. Throughout this paper we assume a Hubble constant of $`H_o=75\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1\mathrm{Mpc}^1`$.

### 2.1 Summary of recent X-ray observations

#### 2.1.1 NGC3379

This galaxy has been observed by Roberts & Warwick (2000) and Halderson et al. (2001) with good resolution (5 arcsec FWHM) using the HRI onboard ROSAT in the soft X-ray energy band (0.1-2 keV) . Roberts & Warwick (2000) detect a single source with $`L_x2\times 10^{39}`$ $`\mathrm{erg}\mathrm{s}^1`$associated with the galaxy nucleus. NGC3379 has also been observed with BeppoSAX by Trinchieri et al. (2000) as part of a sample of early-type galaxies with low $`L_x/L_B`$ ratios. The BeppoSAX spectrum is described by a hard Raymond-Smith (RS) component but with large uncertainties ($`kT7_3^{+17}`$ keV) or with a single power-law with $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=1.8_{0.4}^{+0.3}`$.

#### 2.1.2 NGC3627

NGC3627 (M66) is an interacting galaxy in the Leo triplet. It has been previously observed by PSPC onboard ROSAT (Dahlem et al. 1996) showing a luminosity of $`L_x5\times 10^{39}`$ $`\mathrm{erg}\mathrm{s}^1`$in the 0.1-2 keV band. NGC3627 has also been observed by ASCA (Roberts et al. 2001). Its spectrum can be fitted by a two component model: a steep power-law with $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=2.6_{0.37}^{+0.38}`$ plus an RS with $`kT=0.88_{0.07}^{+0.02}`$ keV. NGC3627 has recently been observed by Chandra ACIS-S as part of an X-ray imaging survey of nearby galaxies (Ho et al. 2001). The above authors do not detect a nuclear source in NGC3627, giving an upper limit for its luminosity of $`L_x<4\times 10^{37}`$ $`\mathrm{erg}\mathrm{s}^1`$in the 2-10 keV band, an order of magnitude below the ASCA luminosity ($`L_{210\mathrm{k}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{V}}10^{39}`$ $`\mathrm{erg}\mathrm{s}^1`$) in the same band.

#### 2.1.3 NGC3998

High resolution ROSAT HRI observations of NGC3998 (Roberts & Warwick 2000) reveal two bright X-ray sources: one is associated with the nucleus and one off-nuclear source with luminosities (0.1-2 keV) of $`L_x4\times 10^{41}`$ $`\mathrm{erg}\mathrm{s}^1`$and $`L_x4\times 10^{39}`$ $`\mathrm{erg}\mathrm{s}^1`$respectively. NGC3998 has been observed in hard X-rays by both ASCA (Ptak et al. 1999) and BeppoSAX (Pellegrini et al. 2000). The ASCA spectrum is described well by a single power-law model. The same model described well the BeppoSAX data up to 100 keV. No lines were detected, at a statistically significant level, by either BeppoSAX or ASCA. The ASCA X-ray luminosity in the 0.4-10 keV band is $`L_x1\times 10^{42}`$ $`\mathrm{erg}\mathrm{s}^1`$.

#### 2.1.4 NGC4125

ROSAT PSPC observations of this galaxy (Fabbiano & Schweizer 1995) show some evidence for extended X-ray emission. This galaxy has again been studied by Trinchieri et al. (2000) with BEppoSAX in order to determine the origin of the X-ray emission in an early-type galaxy sample. Trinchieri et al. (2000) find a two component fit (RS and blackbody) with temperatures of $`kT=`$ 0.3 and 4 keV respectively.

#### 2.1.5 NGC4374

Halderson et al. (2001) have obtained both ROSAT HRI and PSPC observations of this galaxy (M84). The HRI observations reveal a large fraction of extended emission. The X-ray spectrum of this galaxy has been investigated by Matsumoto et al. (1997) using ASCA. They find a two component RS fit with temperatures of $`kT10`$ and 0.6 keV respectively. Recently, this galaxy has been observed by Ho et al. (2001) and Finoguenov & Jones (2001) using Chandra . The galaxy has a nuclear luminosity of $`10^{39}`$ $`\mathrm{erg}\mathrm{s}^1`$in the 2-10 keV band, more than an order of magnitude lower than the ASCA luminosity in the same band. Instead, the majority of the X-ray emission in the hard band, appears to come from off-nuclear point sources and diffuse X-ray emission (Finoguenov & Jones 2001).

#### 2.1.6 NGC4631

ROSAT HRI observations of Roberts & Warwick (2001) resolve the soft X-ray emission into two non-nuclear point sources both with luminosities of $`L_{0.12\mathrm{k}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{V}}10^{39}`$ $`\mathrm{erg}\mathrm{s}^1`$. Joint ASCA and ROSAT PSPC spectral fits (Dahlem, Weaver & Heckman 1998) identify at least three different components: a $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=1.9`$ power-law, a thermal (MEKAL) component with $`kT`$ 0.8 keV and a softer with $`kT`$ 0.2 keV.

#### 2.1.7 NGC5195

This galaxy interacts with NGC5194 (M51). High resolution observations with ROSAT HRI reveal extended X-ray emission and an off-nuclear X-ray source with $`L_{0.12\mathrm{k}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{V}}6\times 10^{38}`$ $`\mathrm{erg}\mathrm{s}^1`$(Ehle, Pietsch & Beck 1995, Roberts & Warwick 2000, Halderson et al. 2001). NGC5195 is connected to M51 with a bridge of diffuse X-ray emission. The Chandra snapshot observations of Ho et al. (2001) do not detect the nucleus giving an upper limit on the 2-10 keV X-ray luminosity of $`10^{38}`$ $`\mathrm{erg}\mathrm{s}^1`$.

#### 2.1.8 NGC5879

This galaxy has not been detected by EINSTEIN (Fabbiano, Kim & Trinchieri 1992) yielding an upper limit of $`3\times 10^{40}`$ $`\mathrm{erg}\mathrm{s}^1`$in the 0.2-4 keV band. No pointed ROSAT data exist for this source while the ASCA image is contaminated by the nearby radio-loud QSO 1508+5714 (Moran & Helfand 1997).

## 3 Observations

The scientific instrumentation on board the Italian-Dutch X-ray Satellite BeppoSAX includes a Medium Energy Concentrator Spectrometer, MECS, which consists of three units, (Boella et al 1997) a Low Energy Concentrator Spectrometer, LECS, (Parmar et al 1997) a High Pressure Gas Scintillation Proportional Counter, HPGSPC, (Manzo et al 1997) and a Phoswich Detector System, PDS, (Frontera et al 1997), all of which point in the same direction. The MECS instrument consists of a mirror unit plus a gas scintillation proportional counter and has imaging capabilities. It covers the energy range between 2-10 keV with a spatial resolution of about 1.4 arcmin at 6 keV and a spectral resolution of 8 per cent at 6 keV. The three different (or two after May 7 1997, when MECS1 failed) MECS units are merged in order to increase the signal-to-noise ratio. This is feasible because the three MECS units show very similar performance and the difference in the position of the optical axis in the three units is smaller than the scale on which the vignetting of the telescopes varies significantly ($`>`$5 arcmin). The LECS instrument is similar to the MECS but operates down to energies of 0.1 keV. The PDS is a direct view detector with rocking collimators and extends the BeppoSAX bandpass to high energies (13-300 keV). Its energy resolution is 15 per cent at 60 keV. Finally, HPGSPC detects photons with energies up to 120 keV and has an energy resolution of 4 per cent at 60 keV.

Table 2 lists the exposures times and Sequence Number for all observations. Note that all objects apart from three (NGC4374, NGC5195 and NGC5879), were the observation targets and therefore were observed on-axis. The off-axis angles for each object are listed in the last column of table 2. All objects have been detected in the 2-10 keV band by MECS. We have not used the PDS data in the case of NGC4374, NGC5195 and NGC5879 as there are bright contaminating sources (the observation targets) within the PDS field-of-view. Only NGC3998 is significantly detected with the PDS while no object is detected by the HPGSPC.

## 4 Short Scale Variability Analysis

The MECS light curves were examined for evidence of short term X-ray variability. We use a binning time of 5 ks. The errors correspond to the 68 per cent confidence level. We have used only objects with adequate photon statistics ($`>100`$ counts). Hence, NGC4374 and NGC5879 were excluded from further variability analysis. We fit the light curve with a constant. The resulting $`\chi ^2`$ imply (see table 3) that there is no statistically significant variability in all cases. As an additional check, we have also performed a Kolmogorov-Smirnov (KS) test. The KS method compares the cumulative distribution of the photon arrival times of the source and the background. Again, no variability has been detected in any of the objects at a confidence level higher than 95 per cent.

Finally, we estimate the variability amplitude by means of the excess variance $`\sigma _{rms}^2`$ (for a definition of this quantity see Nandra et al. 1997). In Fig. 1 we plot the excess variance as a function of the unobscured 2-10 keV luminosity. We compare the variance of the LINER galaxies in our sample to that expected for low luminosity Seyfert galaxies: the solid line represents the extrapolation at low luminosities of the variance-luminosity relation found by Nandra et al. (1997). On Fig. 1 we also present 4 LINER galaxies from the sample of Ptak et al. (1998). It is evident that the LINER galaxies do not show the strong variability amplitude which is expected for Seyfert galaxies in the same luminosity range.

## 5 Spectral Analysis

We extract the source spectra using a radius of two arcmin. This area encircles more than 85 per cent of the photons at an energy of 3 keV (on-axis). The same extraction radii were used in the LECS case. These correspond to a smaller percentage of enclosed energy in the 0.1-2 keV enery range due to the limited spatial resolution of LECS in the above band. The spectrum of the background was estimated from source free regions of the image. We use data between the energy ranges 0.1-4 keV and 2-10 keV for the LECS and MECS detectors respectively where the response matrices are well calibrated. The spectral files were rebinned linearly to give a minimum of 20 counts per channel. The spectral fitting was carried out using the XSPEC v11 software package. The MECS and LECS data were fitted simultaneously. A relative normalization factor was introduced between the LECS and MECS data. We assumed a MECS to LECS normalization factor of 0.90 to account for cross-calibration uncertainties (Fiore, Guainazzi & Grandi 1999).

For each observation, a number of models are applied to the data and for each case the $`\chi ^2`$ statistic is estimated. We first use a single power-law plus neutral absorption model to fit the spectra. Two more complicated models have also been used with the addition of a) a Raymond-Smith (RS), plasma model at soft energies; the temperature was constrained to be $`kT<1`$ keV, while the abundance was fixed to 0.1 in agreement with earlier ASCA results (Roberts et al. 2001) b) a Gaussian line to account for Fe emission at energies above $``$6.4 keV; the line width was fixed to $`\sigma =0.001`$ keV i.e. unresolved given the MECS spectral resolution.

The best-fit models are presented in Table 4. The best fit spectra together with the residuals for the three objects whose BeppoSAX  spectra are presented here for the first time (NGC3627, NGC4631, NGC5195) are given in Fig. 2. As explained in more detail in the section below, the single power-law model provides a statistically acceptable fit to most objects. In order to assess the significance of new parameters added to the initial model we have adopted the 99 per cent confidence level using the F-test (Bevington & Robinson 1992). All errors quoted in the best-fit spectral parameters correspond to the 90 per cent confidence level for one interesting parameter.

Finally, we have used the MECS data and the PDS upper limits in order to derive constraints on the presence of a highly absorbed AGN. In particular, we used only the 15-50 keV PDS upper-limits binned into a single bin, to minimize the background. The 15-50 keV 90% upper limits for NGC3379 and NGC4125 are $`5\times 10^2`$ and $`6\times 10^2`$ $`\mathrm{cts}\mathrm{s}^1`$ respectively. In the case of NGC3627 where Chandra observations show that the level of the nuclear X-ray luminosity is much lower than the total BeppoSAX  emission, (see next section) the PDS cannot provide powerful constraints. We test how our best-fit models (Table 4) for NGC3379 and NGC4125 are sensitive to the presence of a heavily absorbed (i.e. $`N_H>10^{23}`$ $`\mathrm{cm}^2`$) source. We assume that the normalization of such an intrinsic power-law is 20 times higher than the observed power-law normalization. Indeed, this is a typical value for the ratio of scattered to intrinsic X-ray emission in nearby Seyfert-2 galaxies (eg Turner et al. 1997). We further assume the slope of the two power-laws to be identical, but free to vary. Then, by fitting the data, we obtain the following 90 per cent confidence lower-limits on the $`N_H`$ values: 2 and 1 $`\times 10^{24}`$ $`\mathrm{cm}^2`$for NGC3379 and NGC4125 respectively.

### 5.1 Notes on individual Objects

#### 5.1.1 NGC3379

The single power-law spectrum provides an acceptable fit with $`\chi ^2=21./16`$ degrees of freedom (dof); $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=1.65_{0.30}^{+0.44}`$ in agreement with previous results by Trinchieri et al. (2000). The addition of a RS component yields $`\mathrm{\Delta }\chi ^24`$ for two additional parameters (normalization and temperature) which does not represent a statistically significant improvement. The addition of a Gaussian line to the single power-law model yields only $`\mathrm{\Delta }\chi ^22.5`$ for two additional parameters. The 90% upper limit for the ew (equivalent width) of the line is $``$1.5 keV.

#### 5.1.2 NGC3627

The single power-law fit ($`\mathrm{\Gamma }=2.35_{0.60}^{+0.55}`$) yields a poor $`\chi ^2`$ (29.8/15 dof) which is rejected at the $``$98 per cent confidence level. Still, the addition of a RS component (the temperature was set at 0.7 keV) provides no improvement to the fit ($`\mathrm{\Delta }\chi 0`$). The inclusion of an Fe line ($`E=6.78_{0.16}^{+0.32}`$ keV) provides a better fit ($`\mathrm{\Delta }\chi ^27`$) but this is significant at only the $``$90 per cent confidence level for two additional parameters. The 90 % upper limit for the Fe line ew is $``$2.3 keV. Note that the ASCAdata (Roberts et al. 2001) favour instead a two component model (power-law plus RS).

#### 5.1.3 NGC3998

This is the observation with the best signal-to-noise ratio. The PDS data have been included in the spectral fits. More detailed spectral fits on the same BeppoSAX  data were performed by Pellegrini et al. (2000). A single power-law provides a reasonable fit to the data with $`\chi ^2=300.0/248`$. The addition of an RS component ($`kT=0.14_{0.03}^{+0.04}`$ keV) is significant at over the 99 per cent conficence level. The power-law slope is $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=1.88\pm 0.07`$ while the column density is $`\mathrm{N}_\mathrm{H}=0.3_{0.2}^{+0.1}\times 10^{22}\mathrm{cm}^2`$ i.e. significantly higher than the Galactic column density of $`N_H=0.012\times 10^{22}`$ $`\mathrm{cm}^2`$.

#### 5.1.4 NGC4125

The power-law provides an acceptable fit with $`\chi ^2=13.5/10`$ dof. The addition of a RS component ($`kT=0.17_{0.06}^{+0.60}`$ keV) yields a better fit with $`\mathrm{\Delta }\chi ^24.5`$ for two additional parameters; however this is statistically significant at only the $`90`$ per cent confidence level. Both the power-law slope and the column density are poorly constrained: $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=2.52_{0.55}^{+0.58}`$, while the 90 per cent upper limit on $`N_H`$ is $`3\times 10^{22}`$ $`\mathrm{cm}^2`$. Unfortunately, no straightforward comparison can be made with Trinchieri et al. (2000) as these authors chose not to fit a power-law model to the data. The addition of an Fe line ($`E=6.75_{0.35}^{+0.25}`$ keV) is significant at just below the 90 per cent confidence level. The ew of the Fe line is largely unconstrained with its 90% upper limit being 7.2 keV.

#### 5.1.5 NGC4374

This source was observed at 15 arcmin off-axis. It is detected at only the 3.2$`\sigma `$ level having $`71\pm 22`$ counts. Assuming a power-law spectrum with a $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=1.9`$ slope, we obtain a 2-10 keV flux of $`3.4\times 10^{13}`$ $`\mathrm{erg}\mathrm{cm}^2\mathrm{s}^1`$, corresponding to a luminosity of $`1.1\times 10^{40}`$ $`\mathrm{erg}\mathrm{s}^1`$.

#### 5.1.6 NGC4631

The spectrum is described by a single power-law model ($`\chi ^2=22.0/18`$ dof) with $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=2.13_{0.44}^{+0.52}`$ and no significant evidence for an obscuring column density: the 90 per cent uncertainty on $`N_H`$ is between 0 and $`3\times 10^{22}`$ $`\mathrm{cm}^2`$. Both the spectral slope observed as well as the absence of a large obscuring column are typical of the X-ray spectra of both type-1 AGN and nearby star-forming galaxies (eg Ptak et al. 1997, Zezas, Georgantopoulos & Ward 1998). Star-forming galaxies present a RS component at soft energies (with typically $`kT0.7`$ keV) due to extended hot gas emission. In the case of NGC4631, the addition of a soft thermal component ($`kT0.22_{0.10}^{+0.12}`$ keV) does not improve the fit ($`\mathrm{\Delta }\chi ^22`$), in contrast to the ROSAT/ASCA spectral fits of Dahlem et al. (1998). The addition of a Gaussian line to the power-law spectrum is not statistically significant giving $`\mathrm{\Delta }\chi ^23.6`$; the 90 % upper limit on the ew is $``$1 keV.

#### 5.1.7 NGC5195

A single power-law model ($`\mathrm{\Gamma }=1.94_{0.21}^{+0.24}`$) provides a reasonable fit to the data ($`\chi ^2=34.6/21`$ dof). The addition of a soft RS component with a temperature fixed at 0.7 keV yields only $`\mathrm{\Delta }\chi ^2=1.6`$ for two additional parameters. The addition of a line instead gives $`\mathrm{\Delta }\chi ^2=4.3`$. This feature is marginally significant at only the $``$95 per cent confidence level. The line energy is rather high ($`E=7.61_{0.28}^{+0.27}`$ keV) while its ew is $``$1.3 keV. Interestingly, Pellegrini et al. (2000) have also detected such a feature in the case of NGC3998 at an energy of $`7.4_{0.2}^{+0.3}`$ keV at a low significance level ($`<2\sigma `$).

#### 5.1.8 NGC5879

This object is marginally detected at the $`3\sigma `$ level. We used a radius of 1 arcmin detection circle to avoid contamination from a nearby ($``$ 4 arcmin) quasar. This translates to a flux of $`8\times 10^{14}`$ $`\mathrm{erg}\mathrm{cm}^2\mathrm{s}^1`$or to a luminosity of $`3\times 10^{39}`$ $`\mathrm{erg}\mathrm{s}^1`$in the 2-10 keV band (assuming a spectrum with $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=1.9`$).

## 6 Chandra Imaging analysis

### 6.1 NGC3627

In order to study the spatial properties of the X-ray emission of these galaxies we used archival data obtained with the Chandra ACIS-S instrument. Public Chandra data exist only for NGC3627 and NGC5195. These have been observed on 3-11-1999 (exposure 1.1 ksec) and on 23-01-2000 (exposure 1.7 ksec) respectively. Preliminary results from these data have been published by Ho et al. (2001), but their study has been focused on the luminosity of the nucleus alone. From the raw data we extracted images in the 0.5-7.0 keV band which were adaptively smoothed. Contours from these images overlaid on DSS optical images of the galaxies are presented in Fig. 3. Source were detected using the wavelet WAVDETECT) algorithm of the CIAO v.2.0 software package In the case of NGC3627, an X-ray point source close to the radio nucleus (offset 2.6 arcsec) is marginally detected. Note that the astrometry error of the Chandra images is usually within 2 arcsec and therefore the Chandra nuclear X-ray source may be slightly offset from the radio nucleus. More specifically, the coordinates of the nucleus as derived from radio observations (Filho et al. 2001) are $`\alpha =11h20m15.0s`$,$`\delta =+12d59m30s`$ in J2000 while those of the X-ray source are $`\alpha =11h20m15.1s`$,$`\delta =+12d59m28s`$ (J2000). The coordinates of the nucleus derived from UV observations, $`\alpha =11h20m15.1s`$,$`\delta =+12d59m22s`$, J2000, (Maoz et al. 1996) are far off from both the radio and the X-ray source (offset $`>6`$ arcsec). We detect 15 counts from the nucleus translating to an X-ray luminosity of $`L_{210\mathrm{k}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{V}}4\times 10^{37}`$ $`\mathrm{erg}\mathrm{s}^1`$; we used a radius of 2 arcsec which encompasses over 90 % of the light at 2 keV from an on-axis point source. For the conversion from counts to luminosities we use a power-law model with $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=1.9`$ absorbed by the Galactic column density. Note that Ho et al. (2001) derive an upper limit of $`\mathrm{L}_{210\mathrm{k}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{V}}4\times 10^{37}`$ $`\mathrm{erg}\mathrm{s}^1`$for the luminosity of the radio nucleus. At least 7 other X-ray point sources are apparently associated with NGC3627. The X-ray emission is dominated by an off-nuclear source (with J2000 coordinates $`\alpha =11h20m20.9s`$, $`\delta =+12d58m45s`$) with a luminosity of $`L_{210\mathrm{k}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{V}}10^{39}`$ $`\mathrm{erg}\mathrm{s}^1`$. The 8 point sources (including the nucleus) account for about 60 per cent of the X-ray emission within a radius of 2 arcmin in the 0.5-7 keV band.

### 6.2 NGC5195

In the case of NGC5195 we observe extended X-ray emission peaking $``$5 arcsec away from the optical (UV) center of the galaxy. In particular, the X-ray emission peaks at $`\alpha =13h29m59.5s`$, $`\delta =+47d15m57s`$ while the UV nuclear coordinates are $`\alpha =13h29m59.2s`$, $`\delta =+47d15m59s`$ (Maoz et al. 1996). The coordinates of the nucleus in the radio are $`\alpha =13h29m59.5s`$, $`\delta =+47d15m57s`$ according to the NASA Extragalactic Database, (based on VLA observations by Ho & Ulvestad 2001), coincident with the X-ray peak (offset 0.1 arcsec). Given the limited photon statistics it is impossible to discriminate whether this peak corresponds to an additional point source. The nuclear X-ray source has 10 counts (0.5-7 keV) in 2 arcsec region (assuming it is pointlike), translating to a luminosity of $`L_{210\mathrm{k}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{V}}2\times 10^{38}`$ $`\mathrm{erg}\mathrm{s}^1`$. Thus it contributes only a small fraction of the total galaxy X-ray emission. The brightest source has a luminosity of $`L_{210\mathrm{k}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{V}}3\times 10^{38}`$ $`\mathrm{erg}\mathrm{s}^1`$while strong diffuse X-ray emission can be clearly seen up to 40 arcsec (1 kpc) with $`L_{210\mathrm{k}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{V}}10^{39}`$ $`\mathrm{erg}\mathrm{s}^1`$. Note that the derived nuclear luminosity in the case of NGC5195 lies above the upper limit of Ho et al. (2001). This discrepancy is probably explained by the different nuclear positions used by us and Ho et al. (2001). Indeed, in the case of NGC5195, Ho et al. (2001) use the optical nuclear coordinates from the POSS plate while we are using the coordinates of the central X-ray source (which we assume to be coincident with the radio nucleus within the errors of the Chandra astrometry).

## 7 Discussion & Conclusions

The spectra of all our LINER-2 objects are well described by a single power-law with $`\mathrm{\Gamma }1.72.5`$. This spectral slope is typical of both LLAGN (Ptak et al. 1999) as well as star-forming galaxies (eg Dahlem et al. 1998). Interestingly, our two comparison objects, NGC3998 and NGC4631, a bona-fide AGN and star-forming galaxy respectively according to their high quality optical spectra, again present similar X-ray spectra. It is evident that it is quite difficult to differentiate between the low-luminosity AGN and the star-forming scenario on the basis of the X-ray continuum alone. The FeK emission line could offer instead a powerful diagnostic. For example the presence of an FeK line at 6.4 keV is frequently used as a definitive proof for the presence of an AGN. Moreover, narrow ionized Fe emission lines due to hot gas around 6.7 keV are more characteristic of star-forming galaxies (eg M82, Ptak et al. 1997; NGC253, Persic et al. 1998) Unfortunately, the limited photon statistics did not allow the detection of any of the above spectral features in our objects. If the X-ray emission in LINER-2 galaxies emanates mainly from star-forming processes we would expect a strong soft component with a temperature of $`0.7`$ keV. Such a component arises from supernova driven superwinds and appears to be ubiquitous in star-forming galaxies independent of their luminosity (Ptak et al. 1997, Zezas et al. 1998). We found no strong evidence for the presence of a soft component in our objects (apart for the LINER 1.9 galaxy NGC3998 where the temperature of the RS component is much softer with $`kT0.2`$ keV). We believe that a soft component due to hot gas may be actually present but unfortunately the limited signal-to-noise of the LECS observations coupled with uncertainties in the relative cross-calibration of MECS and LECS hamper its detection. Indeed, ASCA observations of NGC3627 (Roberts et al. 2001) and NGC4631 (Dahlem et al. 1998) detect soft X-ray emission with $`kT0.7`$ keV in both objects.

Comparison of the X-ray luminosity and the optical $`H_\alpha `$ luminosity yields more clues on the ionizing source in these objects. Indeed, Terashima et al. (2000b) using ASCA observations of several LINER-2 galaxies found that their X-ray emission is insufficient to produce the observed $`H_\alpha `$ luminosities. According to Terashima et al. (2000b) this means that either an additional ionizing radiation is present (eg hot stars) or that the nucleus is heavily obscured below 10 keV. In Fig. 4 we compare the X-ray luminosities against the $`H_\alpha `$ luminosities for our sample. The $`H_\alpha `$ luminosities were taken from Ho et al. (1997). We use the narrow component luminosity correcting for the effects of redenning (see Ho et al. 1997 for details). The objects from Terashima et al. (2000b) are also given on this plot. The solid line gives the best fit line for type-1 AGN (QSOs, Seyfert-1 and LINER-1) from Terashima et al. (2000b). We have also plotted the Chandra nuclear X-ray luminosities for LINER-2 galaxies from Ho et al. (2001), (detections only), as well as our Chandra nuclear luminosities for NGC3627 and NGC5195. Most of our BeppoSAX  luminosities follow the type-1 AGN line. However, this result appears to be rather coincidental as all the Chandra nuclear X-ray luminosities lie below the type-1 AGN correlation confirming the claims of Terashima et al. (2000b). It is evident that the large aperture of ASCA and BeppoSAX  (a few arcminutes) compared to that used for the optical spectroscopy ($`2\times 4`$ arcsec) alter the true form of the $`L_xL_{H_\alpha }`$ relation. The high energy response of the MECS and PDS instruments gives the opportunity to check whether the low X-ray luminosities could be due to high amounts of obscuration. In the case of NGC3379, NGC3627 and NGC4125, we find that the MECS and PDS data are inconsistent with a column density as high as $`10^{24}`$ $`\mathrm{cm}^2`$. If these sources have to be heavily obscured then the obscuring material should have an even larger column and the three sources should have to be Compton thick. Alternatively, a more plausible scenario is that hot stars are providing the UV continuum necessary to produce the observed $`H_\alpha `$ luminosities. Maoz et al. (1995) and Barth et al. (1998) find that about 25 per cent of LINER galaxies display a compact nuclear UV source. In a fraction of these, the HST UV spectra clearly show absorption line signatures of massive stars indicating a stellar origin for the UV continuum (Maoz et al. 1998).

Perhaps, more conclusive evidence on the origin of the X-ray emission in these objects comes from the Chandra imaging analysis. The images of NGC3627 and NGC5195 presented here, show a very weak nuclear emission with most of the flux arising instead in either off-nuclear sources or in diffuse emission. Similar conclusions are reached on the basis of the Chandra image of NGC4374 (Finoguenov & Jones, 2001). These properties are reminiscent of nearby star-forming galaxies such as M82 and NGC253 (Kaaret et al. 2001, Pietsch et al. 2001, Strickland et al. 2000) where the bulk of the X-ray emission originates in off-nuclear sources. Of course it remains to be seen whether the other objects in our sample present similar imaging properties to NGC3627 and NGC5195.

In conclusion, the spectral BeppoSAX  observations are consistent with both an unobscured LLAGN and a star-forming galaxy scenario. The key test is provided by the Chandra imaging observations which clearly reveal that the a large fraction of the X-ray emission is provided by star-forming processes at least in the case of NGC3627 and NGC5195, where the bulk of the X-ray luminosity has an off-nuclear origin. These observations cannot rule out the presence of a LLAGN in these galaxies. However, in this case the nuclear luminosity should be comparable to that of an X-ray binary, unless the nucleus is heavily obscured. Future, longer exposure Chandra and XMM observations will be able to perform spatially resolved spectroscopy of the nuclear regions. The detection of emission lines is expected to provide powerful diagnostics on the nature of the nuclear emission.

###### Acknowledgements.

We are grateful to the referee Dr. Y. Terashima for his numerous comments and suggestions. The project was funded by a Greek-Italian scientific bilateral agreement under the title “Observations of active galaxies with the Italian astrophysics mission BeppoSAX”, funded jointly by the Greek General Secretariat for Research and Technology and the Italian Foreign Ministry. AZ acknowledges support from grant NAS 8-39073. This work has made use of data obtained from the BeppoSAX  Science Data Center.


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# Reexamining nonstandard interaction effects on supernova neutrino flavor oscillations

## I Introduction

Atmospheric and solar neutrino data provide convincing evidence for lepton flavor nonconservation in the channels $`\nu _\mu \nu _\tau `$ and $`\nu _e\nu _{\mu ,\tau }`$, respectively Revi . The Maki-Nakagawa-Sakata-Pontecorvo hypothesis of $`\nu `$ masses and mixings Maki  suffices to explain such phenomena in terms of flavor oscillations Revi , with no need for additional neutrino properties or interactions.

However, new neutrino interactions are often predicted (together with neutrino masses and mixings) by several extensions of the standard electroweak theory, in the form of effective (low-energy) four-fermion operators $`𝒪_{\alpha \beta }\overline{\nu }_\alpha \nu _\beta \overline{f}f`$ with strength $`G_{\alpha \beta }^f`$, inducing either flavor-changing ($`\alpha \beta `$) or flavor non-universal $`(\alpha =\beta )`$ neutrino transitions. Models with left-right symmetry LeRa  or with supersymmetry with broken $`R`$-parity Rpar ; Vi95  provide widely studied realizations of such operators. Their net effect in ordinary matter (with fermion density $`N_f(x)`$ at position $`x`$) is to provide extra $`\nu `$ interaction energies Wo78  proportional to the following dimensionless couplings

$`ϵ_{\alpha \beta }(x)`$ $``$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{f=e,u,d}{}}G_{\alpha \beta }^fN_f(x)/G_FN_e(x)`$ (1)
$`=`$ $`ϵ_{\alpha \beta }^e+ϵ_{\alpha \beta }^uN_u(x)/N_e(x)+ϵ_{\alpha \beta }^dN_d(x)/N_e(x)`$ (2)
$`=`$ $`ϵ_{\alpha \beta }^e+ϵ_{\alpha \beta }^uϵ_{\alpha \beta }^d+(ϵ_{\alpha \beta }^u+2ϵ_{\alpha \beta }^d)/Y_e(x),`$ (3)
where $`ϵ_{\alpha \beta }^f=G_{\alpha \beta }^f/G_F`$, and $`Y_e(x)`$ is the electron/nucleon number fraction.

As a consequence, in the flavor basis $`\nu _\alpha =(\nu _e,\nu _\mu ,\nu _\tau )`$, the standard interaction hamiltonian in matter Wo78 ; Mi78 111Up to terms proportional to the unit matrix, and discarding negligible one-loop corrections Bo87 .

$$H_{\mathrm{int}}^{\mathrm{std}}=\mathrm{diag}(V,\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}0},\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}0}),$$
(4)
can be generalized as

$$(H_{\mathrm{int}})_{\alpha \beta }=(H_{\mathrm{int}}^{\mathrm{std}})_{\alpha \beta }+Vϵ_{\alpha \beta },$$
(5)
where

$$V(x)=\sqrt{2}G_FN_e(x).$$
(6)
The interaction hamiltonian for antineutrinos is obtained by replacing $`G_{\alpha \beta }^f`$ with $`(G_{\alpha \beta }^f)^{}`$, namely, $`V`$ with $`V`$ and $`ϵ_{\alpha \beta }`$ with $`ϵ_{\alpha \beta }^{}`$.222Notice also that $`ϵ_{\alpha \beta }^{}=ϵ_{\beta \alpha }`$ for hermiticity of $`H_{\mathrm{int}}`$.

Nonstandard neutrino interactions in matter, and their interplay with the oscillation phenomenon, have been investigated in many different contexts. An incomplete list includes analyses related to the solar neutrino problem Ro91 ; Gu91 ; Gu92 ; Ba91 ; Ri93 ; Fo94 ; Kr97 ; Ma98 ; Be98 ; BeKa ; Be00 ; Gago ; GuNu , to the atmospheric neutrino anomaly Fo01 , to the LSND oscillation results Be99 , to neutrinoless double beta decay Doub , to supernova neutrinos BeKa ; Ku98 , to the production or detection of laboratory neutrinos Gr95 ; Jo98 ; Ot02 , and to future (very) long baseline projects Ga01 ; Da01 ; Go01 ; Sa02 ; Hu01 ; Sc01 ; Hu02 . In a nutshell, these works demonstrate that nonstandard neutrino interactions in matter can (sometimes profoundly) modify the interpretation of current and future oscillation searches, and that their possible effects deserve particular attention, whenever inferences about standard mass-mixing parameters are made from experimental data.

In this work, we revisit the effects of subleading nonstandard four-fermion interactions on the flavor oscillation of massive and mixed (anti)neutrinos in supernovae. We shall limit ourselves to the region above the protoneutron star, where neutrinos propagate freely, and all relevant fermion densities are monotonically decreasing (roughly as the third power of the radius).333Possible flavor transitions induced by nonstandard interactions near the neutrinosphere Va87 ; Vall  will be commented at the end of Sec. II. For this case (previously studied, e.g., in BeKa ; Ku98 ) we aim to a completely analytical treatment, valid for generic values of the neutrino mixing angles and for both the direct and inverse mass spectrum hierarchies allowed by the current $`\nu `$ phenomenology. Such treatment has been recently proposed in Sour  for the case of standard supernova $`\nu `$ oscillations.

In the present work, we make a few simplifying assumptions about the nonstandard couplings $`ϵ_{\alpha \beta }`$: (1) they are taken as real (either positive or negative), so that $`ϵ_{\alpha \beta }=ϵ_{\beta \alpha }`$; (2) their possible variation with $`x`$ through $`Y_e`$ \[see Eq. (3)\] is neglected;444Detailed supernova simulations show that $`Y_e0.5`$ above the protoneutron star. Significant variations (reductions) of $`Y_e`$ are confined to regions near the neutrinosphere during the cooling phase Ylow . and (3) they are assumed to be small,

$$|ϵ_{\alpha \beta }|1,$$
(7)
say, $`|ϵ_{\alpha \beta }|<\mathrm{few}\times 10^2`$, so that terms of $`O(ϵ^2)`$ can be safely neglected in the calculations.

Under the above assumptions, we find that the main effect of nonstandard interactions on supernova neutrino oscillations is to induce a shift in the relevant mixing angles, as compared to the standard case. Such a shift is discussed first in the two-neutrino case (Sec. II) and then in the three-neutrino case (Sec. III). Nonstandard effects in the Earth matter are briefly discussed in Sec. IV. Phenomenological consequences are illustrated in Sec. V. Conclusions are drawn in Sec. VI.

A final remark is in order. The assumption in Eq. (7) is consistent with phenomenological upper bounds BeKa ; Be00 ; Be99 ; Gr00 , derived from charged lepton processes under $`SU(2)`$ symmetry assumptions. Such bounds are typically of $`O(10^1)`$ for the (differences of) diagonal couplings and of $`O(10^2)`$ for the off-diagonal ones; only the upper limit on $`ϵ_{e\mu }`$ is much more severe \[$`O(10^5)`$\]. However, if allowance is made for substantial $`SU(2)`$ breaking, and if the analysis is performed in a more model-independent way, the previous constraints BeKa ; Be00 ; Be99 ; Gr00  can be significantly relaxed Ro01 ; Ra01 . Accordingly, scenarios with (some) large $`ϵ_{\alpha \beta }`$’s \[$`\mathrm{few}\times 10^1`$\] can be built (see, e.g., Ro01 ; Ru95 ), but they will not be considered in this paper.

## II Two-neutrino transitions

In this section, we study the effects of nonstandard interactions on $`2\nu `$ oscillations, in the region well above the neutrinosphere. We show that the $`2\nu `$ evolution equation can be formally cast in an effective (and solvable) standard form ($`ϵ_{\alpha \beta }=0`$), through a proper redefinition of the neutrino mixing angle. The traditional formulae, derived through resonance-condition arguments Ma98 ; Be98 ; BeKa ; Ku98  (inapplicable for mixing angles $`\pi /4`$, see Sour  and references therein), are shown to be recovered in the limit of small mixing. At the end of this section, we also comment on a different mechanism that might induce nonstandard flavor transitions near the neutrinosphere.

In the flavor basis, the two-family evolution equation for free-streaming neutrinos can be written as

$$i\frac{d}{dx}\left(\begin{array}{c}\nu _e\\ \nu _a\end{array}\right)=[H_{\mathrm{kin}}(\theta )+H_{\mathrm{int}}(x)]\left(\begin{array}{c}\nu _e\\ \nu _a\end{array}\right),$$
(8)
where $`a=\mu `$ or $`\tau `$, and $`H=H_{\mathrm{kin}}(\theta )+H_{\mathrm{int}}(x)`$ is the total hamiltonian, split into kinetic and interaction energy terms. The kinetic term can be expressed in terms of the neutrino mixing angle $`\theta `$, of the squared mass difference $`\mathrm{\Delta }m^2=m_2^2m_1^2`$, and of the energy $`E`$ as

$$H_{\mathrm{kin}}=U(\theta )\left(\begin{array}{cc}k/2& 0\\ 0& +k/2\end{array}\right)U^{}(\theta ),$$
(9)
where $`k=\mathrm{\Delta }m^2/2E`$ is the neutrino oscillation wave number, and

$$U(\theta )=\left(\begin{array}{cc}\mathrm{cos}\theta & \mathrm{sin}\theta \\ \mathrm{sin}\theta & \mathrm{cos}\theta \end{array}\right)$$
(10)
is the mixing matrix. The interaction term can be written as

$`H_{\mathrm{int}}(x)`$ $`=`$ $`V(x)\left(\begin{array}{cc}1+ϵ_{ee}& ϵ_{ea}\\ ϵ_{ea}& ϵ_{aa}\end{array}\right)`$ (13)
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{V(x)}{2}}\left(\begin{array}{cc}1+ϵ_{ee}ϵ_{aa}& 2ϵ_{ea}\\ 2ϵ_{ea}& 1+ϵ_{ee}+ϵ_{aa}\end{array}\right),`$ (16)
where we have made $`H_{\mathrm{int}}`$ traceless in the last equation, $`V(x)`$ being defined as in Eq. (6). For $`ϵ_{\alpha \beta }=0`$ (standard case), the interaction term reduces to

$$H_{\mathrm{int}}^{\mathrm{std}}=\mathrm{diag}(+1,1)V(x)/2.$$
(17)
The term $`H_{\mathrm{int}}`$ in Eq. (16) is diagonalized through

$$H_{\mathrm{int}}=U(\eta )^{}\mathrm{diag}(+1,1)U(\eta )fV(x)/2,$$
(18)
where

$$f=\sqrt{(1+ϵ_{ee}ϵ_{aa})^2+4ϵ_{ea}^2},$$
(19)
while $`U(\eta )`$ is defined as in Eq. (10), but with argument

$`\eta `$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}\mathrm{arctan}{\displaystyle \frac{2ϵ_{ea}}{1+ϵ_{ee}ϵ_{aa}}}`$ (20)
$`=`$ $`ϵ_{ea}+O(ϵ^2),`$ (21)
where terms of $`O(ϵ^2)`$ can be neglected under the assumption in Eq. (7).

Equation (18) differs from Eq. (17) in two respects: (a) the potential $`V`$ is multiplied by a factor $`f`$, and (b) there is an additional rotation matrix $`U(\eta )=U(ϵ_{ea})+O(ϵ^2)`$. The point (a) is equivalent to rescale the supernova density by less than a few percent \[$`f=1+O(ϵ)`$\], and does not lead to realistically measurable consequences; in fact, the difference $`f1`$ is conceivably smaller than the uncertainties associated to the normalization and shape of inferred or simulated supernova density profiles; moreover, the oscillation physics depends on $`V`$ mainly through its logarithmic derivative Sour . The point (b) can instead be important and, as we shall see, it leads to a bias in the “effective mixing angle” governing flavor transitions along the supernova matter profile.

Summarizing the above discussion, the leading nonstandard effect on $`2\nu `$ propagation in supernovae is governed by the off-diagonal coupling $`ϵ_{ea}`$, and amounts to write $`H_{\mathrm{int}}`$ in the form

$$H_{\mathrm{int}}(x)\frac{V(x)}{2}U^{}(ϵ_{ea})\left(\begin{array}{cc}+1& 0\\ 0& 1\end{array}\right)U(ϵ_{ea}).$$
(22)
It is then easy to check that, in the new basis

$$\left(\begin{array}{c}\stackrel{~}{\nu }_e\\ \stackrel{~}{\nu }_a\end{array}\right)=U(ϵ_{ea})\left(\begin{array}{c}\nu _e\\ \nu _a\end{array}\right),$$
(23)
the neutrino evolution equation in matter \[Eq. (8)\] takes an effective “standard” form,

$$i\frac{d}{dx}\left(\begin{array}{c}\stackrel{~}{\nu }_e\\ \stackrel{~}{\nu }_a\end{array}\right)=[H_{\mathrm{kin}}(\stackrel{~}{\theta })+H_{\mathrm{int}}^{\mathrm{std}}(x)]\left(\begin{array}{c}\stackrel{~}{\nu }_e\\ \stackrel{~}{\nu }_a\end{array}\right),$$
(24)
where $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }=\theta +ϵ_{ea}`$. Roughly speaking, nonstandard effects can be “rotated away” from $`H_{\mathrm{int}}`$ (which becomes $`H_{\mathrm{int}}^{\mathrm{std}}`$) and “transferred” to $`H_{\mathrm{kin}}`$ through the replacement $`\theta \stackrel{~}{\theta }=\theta +ϵ_{ea}`$. Since accurate analytical solutions of Eq. (24) exist \[expressed, e.g., in terms of the survival probability $`P(\stackrel{~}{\nu }_e\stackrel{~}{\nu }_e)`$\], the task is reduced to a proper back-rotation of known results (applied to $`\stackrel{~}{\nu }_\alpha `$) to the physical flavor basis $`\nu _\alpha `$.

To do so, one defines the usual mixing angle in matter $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }_m`$ diagonalizing the total hamiltonian in Eq. (24),

$$\mathrm{cos}2\stackrel{~}{\theta }_m=\frac{\mathrm{cos}2\stackrel{~}{\theta }V/k}{\sqrt{(\mathrm{cos}2\stackrel{~}{\theta }V/k)^2+\mathrm{sin}^22\stackrel{~}{\theta }}}$$
(25)
and the associated basis of effective mass eigenstates in matter $`\stackrel{~}{\nu }_{m,i}`$,

$$\stackrel{~}{\nu }_\alpha =U(\stackrel{~}{\theta }_m)\stackrel{~}{\nu }_{m,i}.$$
(26)
The formal solution of Eq. (24), evolving the state $`(\nu _\alpha )`$ from the starting point ($`x=x_o`$) to the detection point ($`x=x_d`$), can then be factorized as

$`\left(\begin{array}{c}\nu _e\\ \nu _a\end{array}\right)_d`$ $`=`$ $`U(\theta )T_VT_S(\stackrel{~}{\theta })U^{}(\stackrel{~}{\theta }_m^o)U(ϵ_{ea})\left(\begin{array}{c}\nu _e\\ \nu _a\end{array}\right)_o`$ (31)
$`=`$ $`U(\theta )T_VT_S(\stackrel{~}{\theta })U^{}(\stackrel{~}{\theta }_m^oϵ_{ea})\left(\begin{array}{c}\nu _e\\ \nu _a\end{array}\right)_o,`$ (34)
where, from right to left, $`U(ϵ_{ea})`$ rotates the initial state $`\nu _\alpha `$ to the $`\stackrel{~}{\nu }_\alpha `$ basis of Eq. (24), $`U^{}(\stackrel{~}{\theta }_m^o)`$ rotates $`\stackrel{~}{\nu }_\alpha `$ to the initial basis of mass eigenstates $`\stackrel{~}{\nu }_{m,j}^o`$ in matter, $`T_S(\stackrel{~}{\theta })`$ embeds the transitions $`\stackrel{~}{\nu }_{m,j}^o\stackrel{~}{\nu }_{m,i}`$ up to the supernova surface (where $`V=0`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{\nu }_{m,i}=\nu _i`$), $`T_V`$ further propagates the $`\nu _i`$’s in vacuum until they arrive at the detector (up to Earth matter effects), and a final rotation $`U(\theta )`$ brings the $`\nu _i`$ states back to the physical flavor basis $`\nu _\alpha `$. Equation (34), obtained by grouping the first two rotations, represents the formal solution of the $`\nu `$ evolution equation, in a format analogous to the standard case (i.e., initial rotation, propagation in matter, propagation in vacuum, final rotation).

One can then average out unobservable oscillating terms (mainly associated to $`T_V`$), so as to propagate classical (real) probabilities $`P_{\alpha \beta }`$ rather than complex amplitudes. The averaging can be accomplished KuPa  by replacing in Eq. (34) each entry in the matrices $`U(\theta )`$, $`T_S(\stackrel{~}{\theta })`$, and $`U^{}(\stackrel{~}{\theta }_m^oϵ_{ea})`$, with its squared modulus. In our case, the initial (high density) condition $`V(x_o)/k1`$ leads to $`\mathrm{sin}^2(\stackrel{~}{\theta }_m^oϵ_{ea})1+O(ϵ_{ea}^2)`$, effectively cancelling any “memory” of the initial point $`x_o`$ above the protoneutron star. Therefore, the electron neutrino survival probability finally reads555 We remind the reader that $`P_{ee}`$ is the most relevant quantity in supernova $`\nu `$ oscillations, due to the practical indistinguishability of $`\nu _\mu `$ and $`\nu _\tau `$ in the initial and final states KuPa . See, however, Ref. Akhm  for a recent discussion of possible differences between $`\nu _\mu `$ and $`\nu _\tau `$ fluxes at the origin.

$$P_{ee}=\left(\begin{array}{cc}1& 0\end{array}\right)\left(\begin{array}{cc}\mathrm{cos}^2\theta & \mathrm{sin}^2\theta \\ \mathrm{sin}^2\theta & \mathrm{cos}^2\theta \end{array}\right)\left(\begin{array}{cc}1P_c(\stackrel{~}{\theta })& P_c(\stackrel{~}{\theta })\\ P_c(\stackrel{~}{\theta })& 1P_c(\stackrel{~}{\theta })\end{array}\right)\left(\begin{array}{cc}0& 1\\ 1& 0\end{array}\right)\left(\begin{array}{c}1\\ 0\end{array}\right),$$
(35)
namely,

$$P_{ee}=\mathrm{cos}^2\theta P_c(\stackrel{~}{\theta })+\mathrm{sin}^2\theta [1P_c(\stackrel{~}{\theta })],$$
(36)
where we have adopted the usual notation for the square moduli in $`T_S`$, in terms of the so-called crossing probability $`P_c`$ (see, e.g., KuPa ).

Equation (36) is formally analogous to the one in the standard case ($`ϵ_{ea}=0`$), modulo the replacement $`\theta \stackrel{~}{\theta }=\theta +ϵ_{ea}`$ in $`P_c`$. We recall that, in the standard case, $`P_c(\theta )`$ is accurately described by a simple analytical expression,

$$P_c^{\mathrm{std}}(\theta )=\frac{e^{2\pi rk\mathrm{cos}^2\theta }1}{e^{2\pi rk}1},$$
(37)
where

$$r=\left(\frac{d\mathrm{ln}V}{dx}\right)_{x=x_p}^1$$
(38)
is the density scale factor, to be evaluated at the point $`x_p`$ where the potential equals the wave number Sour ,

$$V(x_p)=k.$$
(39)
The above prescription for $`P_c^{\mathrm{std}}(\theta )`$, inspired by the condition of maximum violation of adiabaticity Alex ; Petc ; Sour  (more general than the traditional condition of resonance KuPa ) and by the double-exponential representation for the crossing probability KrPe , holds accurately for generic supernova density profiles, in the whole $`2\nu `$ mass-mixing parameter space Sour .

In the presence of nonstandard interactions, the previously discussed replacement $`\theta \theta +ϵ_{ea}`$ leads then to the following analytical form for $`P_c`$:

$$P_c(\stackrel{~}{\theta )}=\frac{e^{2\pi rk\mathrm{cos}^2(\theta +ϵ_{ea})}1}{e^{2\pi rk}1},$$
(40)
where $`r`$ takes the same value as in Eq. (38), the position of $`x_p`$ \[Eq. (39)\] being unaffected by the shift $`\theta \theta +ϵ_{ea}`$.666The definition of $`r(x_p)`$ through Eqs. (38) and (39) is $`\theta `$-independent.

Equations (36) and (40) represent our main result for the two-flavor neutrino case. They provide a compact description of nonstandard interaction effects on $`P_{ee}`$, valid for generic values of $`\theta `$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }m^2`$ (provided that $`ϵ_{ea}1`$). The calculation of $`P_{ee}`$ for antineutrinos is strictly analogous: given the analytical expression reported in Sec. II.C of Sour , one has simply to replace $`\theta `$ with $`\theta +ϵ_{ea}`$ within $`P_c(\overline{\nu })`$.777Notice that, outside $`P_c`$, the angle $`\theta `$ is unshifted, as in the coefficients $`\mathrm{sin}^2\theta `$ and $`\mathrm{cos}^2\theta `$ of Eq. (36).

It can easily be shown that Eq. (40) generalizes previous results about nonstandard interaction effects, valid in a more limited range of applicability. The traditional analytical approach to $`P_c`$ localizes the nonadiabatic transitions at the so-called “resonance” point $`x_r`$, where mixing in matter is maximal ($`\mathrm{sin}2\theta _m(x_r)=1`$) Ma98 ; Be98 ; BeKa ; Ku98 . The resonance approach is certainly valid at small $`\theta `$, where it should coincide with ours. Indeed, in the resonance approach, the standard $`(ϵ_{ea}=0)`$ Landau-Zener form for $`P_c`$ at small mixing ($`\mathrm{ln}P_c\theta ^2`$) KuPa  is modified as $`\mathrm{ln}P_c\theta ^2(1+2ϵ_{ea}\mathrm{cot}2\theta )^2(\theta +ϵ_{ea})^2`$ Ma98 ; Be98 ; BeKa ; Ku98 , in agreement with our prescription $`\theta \theta +ϵ_{ea}`$. For $`\theta `$ approaching $`\pi /4`$, however, the resonance condition generally fails to localize the right point $`x`$ for the evaluation of $`r(x)`$, and becomes eventually not applicable for $`\theta >\pi /4`$ (both in the standard Sour  and in the nonstandard case). Conversely, Eq. (40) has no such applicability restrictions. Finally, in the subcase $`\theta 0`$, we also recover from Eq. (40) the double-exponential form for $`P_c`$ found analytically in Gu92  in the scenario of massless (solar) neutrinos with nonstandard interactions. Therefore, Eq. (40) correctly generalizes previous limiting cases.

A final comment is in order. Additional nonstandard flavor transitions (different from those described in this section) might independently occur in inner layers Va87 ; Vall , as a result of a decrease of $`Y_e(x)`$ to $`O(10^2)`$, localized just above the neutrinosphere during the cooling phase Ylow ; Vall . The $`ϵ_{\alpha \beta }(x)`$’s can then locally increase to $`O(1)`$ \[see Eq. (1)\], making the diagonal and off-diagonal terms in the interaction hamiltonian \[Eq. (13)\] comparable in magnitude, and dominant (due to the very high matter density) with respect to the kinetic terms \[Eq. (9)\]. As a consequence, near the neutrinosphere (and thus prior to the flavor oscillations discussed in this paper), nonstandard interactions might induce additional flavor transitions of (effectively massless) $`\nu `$ and $`\overline{\nu }`$ during the cooling phase Va87 ; Vall . Our results, applicable to the region of decreasing fermion density above the protoneutron star (where $`Y_e0.5`$) should be thus considered as complementary to the possible independent effects Va87 ; Vall  possibly induced by a local (preceding) drop of $`Y_e`$. A combination of the two nonstandard interaction effects (still lacking in the literature, to our knowledge) is, however, beyond the scope of this paper.888We note in passing that, being confined to a region just above the neutrinosphere (where collective and collision effects can still be non negligible), the additional transitions at low $`Y_e`$ might require a more advanced description than the free-particle formalism used in Vall  (e.g., in terms of kinetic and density matrix equations Deco ).

## III Three-neutrino transitions

In the $`3\nu `$ case, the interaction term in the Hamiltonian is given by Eq. (5), while the kinetic term $`H_{\mathrm{kin}}`$ is

$$H_{\mathrm{kin}}=U(\omega ,\varphi ,\psi )\left(\begin{array}{ccc}k_L/2& 0& 0\\ 0& +k_L/2& 0\\ 0& 0& k_H\end{array}\right)U^{}(\omega ,\varphi ,\psi ),$$
(41)
where $`k_L=\delta m^2/2E`$ and $`k_H=m^2/2E`$ ($`\delta m^2`$ and $`m^2`$ being the “solar” and “atmospheric” neutrino squared mass differences, see Revi ; Sour ), while the $`3\times 3`$ mixing matrix $`U(\omega ,\varphi ,\psi )`$ is factorized (discarding a possible CP violating phase) into three real rotations KuPa ; Ku88

$$U(\omega ,\varphi ,\psi )=U_{23}(\psi )U_{13}(\varphi )U_{12}(\omega ),$$
(42)
where $`(\omega ,\varphi ,\psi )=(\theta _{12},\theta _{13},\theta _{23})`$. The subscripts $`H`$ and $`L`$ remind that two transitions can occur along the supernova profile when $`VO(k_H)`$ and $`VO(k_L)`$, namely, at high ($`H`$) and low ($`L`$) density, respectively.

The phenomenological assumption of hierarchical squared mass differences,

$$\delta m^2m^2k_Lk_H,$$
(43)
together with Eq. (7), makes the $`3\nu `$ dynamics factorizable into two (almost decoupled) $`2\nu `$ subsystems for the $`H`$ and $`L`$ transitions, in the same way as for the standard case KuPa .

To isolate the dynamics of the $`H`$ transition, one rotates the starting neutrino (flavor) basis by $`U_{23}^{}(\psi )`$, and extracts the submatrix with indices $`(1,\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}3})`$ KuPa ; Ku98 . The effective $`2\nu `$ sub-dynamics is then governed by $`(k,\theta )(k_H,\varphi )`$, and the analogous of $`ϵ_{ea}`$ is given by the off-diagonal (nonstandard) term, which reads

$$ϵ_H=ϵ_{e\mu }\mathrm{sin}\psi +ϵ_{e\tau }\mathrm{cos}\psi .$$
(44)
Using the results of the previous section and those of Ref. Sour , the crossing probability for the $`H`$ transition is thus described in terms of an effective $`(1,3)`$ mixing angle $`\stackrel{~}{\varphi }=\varphi +ϵ_H`$, so that

$$P_H=\frac{e^{2\pi r_Hk_H\mathrm{cos}^2(\varphi +ϵ_H)}1}{e^{2\pi r_Hk_H}1},$$
(45)
$`r_H`$ being the density scale factor \[Eq. (38)\] evaluated at the point $`x_H`$ where $`V(x_H)=k_H`$.

Analogously, to isolate the dynamics of the $`L`$ transition, one rotates the starting neutrino (flavor) basis by $`U_{13}^{}(\varphi )U_{23}^{}(\psi )`$, and then extracts the submatrix with indices $`(1,\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}2})`$. The effective $`2\nu `$ sub-dynamics is then governed by $`(k,\theta )(k_L,\omega )`$ and by the off-diagonal (nonstandard) term, which now reads999An analogous result for $`ϵ_L`$ has been recently reported in the context of solar neutrinos GuNu . The expression of $`ϵ_L`$ for supernova neutrinos, in the subcase $`ϵ_{\mu \tau }=ϵ_{\mu \mu }=ϵ_{\tau \tau }=0`$, is reported in Ku98 .

$`ϵ_L`$ $`=`$ $`\mathrm{cos}\varphi (ϵ_{e\mu }\mathrm{cos}\psi ϵ_{e\tau }\mathrm{sin}\psi )`$ (46)
$`+`$ $`\mathrm{sin}\varphi [(ϵ_{\tau \tau }ϵ_{\mu \mu })\mathrm{sin}\psi \mathrm{cos}\psi ϵ_{\mu \tau }\mathrm{cos}2\psi ].`$
The crossing probability for the $`L`$ transition is thus described in terms of an effective $`(1,2)`$ mixing angle $`\stackrel{~}{\omega }=\omega +ϵ_L`$, so that

$$P_L=\frac{e^{2\pi r_Lk_L\mathrm{cos}^2(\omega +ϵ_L)}1}{e^{2\pi r_Lk_L}1},$$
(47)
$`r_L`$ being evaluated at the point $`x_L`$ where $`V(x_L)=k_L`$. The same shift ($`\omega \omega +ϵ_L`$) applies to the expression of $`P_L`$ for antineutrinos (as given in Sour ).

The above discussion implicitly assumes direct hierarchy of neutrino masses ($`m_{1,2}<m_3`$). The case of inverse hierarchy ($`m_3<m_{1,2}`$) is, however, strictly analogous; indeed, the symmetry arguments used in Sour  to derive $`P_{ee}`$ analytically in the case of inverse hierarchy (in terms of $`P_{ee}`$ for direct hierarchy) are unaffected by the presence of nonstandard interactions. Therefore, the prescription remains the same, irrespective of the spectrum type: take the standard expressions of $`P_{ee}`$ from Sour , and replace $`\omega \omega +ϵ_L`$ and $`\varphi \varphi +ϵ_H`$ in the crossing probabilities for both neutrinos and antineutrinos. Embedding nonstandard interaction effects through appropriate shifts of $`\omega `$ and $`\varphi `$ within $`P_L`$ and $`P_H`$, respectively, represents our main results for the case of three-flavor mixing of supernova neutrinos (up to Earth matter effects).

## IV Earth matter effects

In the standard case $`(ϵ_{\alpha \beta }=0)`$, it is well known that possible Earth matter effects before supernova $`\nu `$ detection can be embedded through a specific transition probability $`P_E=P(\nu _2\nu _e)`$ (see Sour ; Di00 ; Lu01  and references therein). In the hierarchical approximation \[Eq. (43)\], $`P_E`$ is basically a function of the $`L`$-transition parameters $`(\omega ,\delta m^2)`$ only.101010There is a subleading dependence on $`\varphi `$ through the renormalization $`VV\mathrm{cos}^2\varphi `$, which can be safely neglected for supernova neutrinos, given the smallness of $`\varphi `$ Revi  and unavoidable normalization uncertainties of $`V`$.

The dependence of $`P_E`$ on $`\omega `$ is both explicit (through an $`\omega `$-rotation in vacuum), and implicit \[through the mixing angle in the Earth matter, $`\omega _m=\omega _m(\omega )`$\], so that

$$P_E=P_E(\omega ,\omega _m(\omega ),\delta m^2),\mathrm{standard}\mathrm{case}.$$
(48)
In particular, Sec. IV of Sour  reports known representations of the function $`P_E(\omega ,\omega _m(\omega ),\delta m^2)`$ in the case of Earth mantle (+ core) crossing, in the same notation as in the present paper.

In the nonstandard case, since it is $`ϵ_{\alpha \beta }0`$ only in matter, the previously found shift $`\omega \omega +ϵ_L`$ applies only to $`\omega _m`$, namely,

$$P_E=P_E(\omega ,\omega _m(\omega +ϵ_L),\delta m^2),\mathrm{nonstandard}\mathrm{case},$$
(49)
and similarly for antineutrinos.111111In principle, the value of $`ϵ_L`$ to be used in Eq. (49) might be slightly different from the one in Eq. (47), due to different (average) values of $`Y_e`$ in the Earth and in the supernova \[see Eq. (3)\]. We have also checked the above prescription by explicitly repeating the derivation of $`P_E`$ in the cases of one-layer or two-layer model for the Earth crossing (omitted).

## V Discussion

Let us discuss in more detail the effects of nonzero $`ϵ_L`$ and $`ϵ_H`$ on supernova neutrino oscillations, by considering the phenomenologically interesting case with $`m^2=3\times 10^3`$ eV2, $`\delta m^2m^2`$, and $`\mathrm{sin}^2\varphi \mathrm{few}\%`$ Revi . We assume the supernova power-law density profile reported in Fig. 1 of Sour , and a representative neutrino energy $`E=15`$ MeV. The electron neutrino survival probability, in the case of direct hierarchy, is then given by

$$P_{ee}(\nu )[(1P_E)P_L(k_L,\omega +ϵ_L)+P_E(1P_L(k_L,\omega +ϵ_L))]e^{2\pi r_Hk_H\mathrm{sin}^2(\varphi +ϵ_H)},$$
(50)
where we have neglected a small (additive) $`O(\varphi ^2)`$ term, the main effect of $`\varphi `$ being embedded in the exponential suppression factor. In the above equation, $`P_L`$ is given by Eq. (47), while $`P_E`$ is calculated as in Eqs. (48) or (49). In the case of no Earth crossing, $`P_E`$ is simply given by

$$P_E=\mathrm{sin}^2\omega (\mathrm{no}\mathrm{Earth}\mathrm{effects}).$$
(51)
Figure 1 shows curves of iso-$`P_{ee}(\nu )`$, calculated according to Eq. (50), with and without Earth matter effects (dotted and solid lines, respectively),121212In Fig. 1, Earth matter effects refer to a representative case of mantle crossing, with pathlength $`L=8500`$ km, mass density $`\rho =4.5`$ g/cm3, and electron number fraction $`Y_e=1/2`$. in the plane of the $`L`$-transition variables $`(\delta m^2,\mathrm{tan}^2\omega )`$. The three left panels refer to the case $`\mathrm{tan}^2(\varphi +ϵ_H)=0`$ (corresponding to either $`\varphi =ϵ_H=0`$ or to $`ϵ_H=\varphi `$), which implies $`P_H=1`$. The three right panels correspond instead to a nonzero value for $`\varphi +ϵ_H`$, namely, $`\mathrm{tan}^2(\varphi +ϵ_H)=2\times 10^5`$, implying $`P_H=0.46`$. The comparison of left and right panels clearly shows the suppression of $`P_{ee}(\nu )`$ due to $`\varphi +ϵ_H0`$.

In Fig. 1, from top to bottom, the three (left and right) panels correspond to $`ϵ_L=0`$, $`ϵ_L=+3\times 10^2`$, and $`ϵ_L=3\times 10^2`$. The effect of nonzero $`ϵ_L`$ is dramatic at small mixing angles, and leads to a distinctive and well-known pattern for the isolines of $`P_{ee}`$ Ba91 ; Fo94 ; Be98 ; BeKa ; Ku98 , which appear to be elongated towards very small values of $`\omega `$ for positive $`ϵ_L`$, and split into two branches for negative $`ϵ_L`$. In our formalism, this behavior is simply captured in terms of the $`\mathrm{cos}^2(\omega +ϵ_L)`$ argument in $`P_L`$: for $`ϵ_L>0`$ the argument increases monotonically for decreasing (small) $`\omega `$, otherwise it first reaches a maximum at $`\omega =ϵ_L`$ and then decreases. The Earth effect is also similarly “stretched” in Fig. 1.

Let us consider in more detail the case of relatively large $`\omega `$ \[$`\mathrm{tan}^2\omega O(10^{\pm 1})`$\], which appears to be generally favored by recent solar neutrino data Sola . In this case, independently of the value of $`\delta m^2`$, effects induced by $`ϵ_L0`$ are hardly recognizable in Fig. 1, since the difference between $`\omega `$ and $`\omega +ϵ_L`$ is fractionally small, while the leading effect of nonstandard interactions is embedded in the exponential suppression factor ($`P_H`$) of Eq. (50). In particular, for relatively large values of $`\delta m^2/E`$ \[providing the best fit to solar neutrino data Sola  through the so called large mixing angle (LMA) solution\], it is $`P_L0`$, and the $`\nu _e`$ survival probability simply reads

$$P_{ee}P_Ee^{2\pi r_Hk_H\mathrm{sin}^2(\varphi +ϵ_H)}(\mathrm{LMA}\mathrm{solution}).$$
(52)
Figure 2 shows the function $`P_E(\delta m^2)`$ for three representative values of $`\mathrm{tan}^2\omega `$ in the LMA region. Other parameters ($`ϵ_L`$, neutrino energy and pathlength, mantle density and electron number fraction) are as in Fig. 1. The case of no Earth crossing \[Eq. (51)\] is also shown as a horizontal line in each panel. In general, Earth matter effects appear to be relevant in all cases, producing a distinctive oscillatory pattern in $`P_E`$. Different values of $`ϵ_L`$ induce slightly different oscillation amplitudes in $`P_E`$, and could thus (in principle) be distinguished, especially for large values of $`\delta m^2`$, where the relative differences among the curves in each panel increase. However, such discrimination would require very high statistics observations. We conclude that, for mass-mixing parameters in the LMA solution, and for typical supernova density profiles and energy spectra, the main nonstandard effects are associated with $`ϵ_H`$ (through $`P_H`$), while smaller effects are associated with $`ϵ_L`$ (through $`P_E`$).

Concerning the main nonstandard effects, the survival probability in Eq. (50) shows that, in general, supernova neutrinos can be sensitive to values of $`\mathrm{tan}^2(\varphi +ϵ_H)`$ as low as $`10^5`$, corresponding to a (sub)percent sensitivity in $`\varphi +ϵ_H`$. Indeed, in the standard case ($`ϵ_H=0`$), it has been shown that inversion of future galactic supernova data might provide upper and lower bounds on $`\varphi `$ in the percent range Ba01 . Our results show that, in the presence of additional nonstandard interactions $`(ϵ_H0)`$, any constraint about $`\varphi `$ must actually be interpreted as a constraint on $`\varphi +ϵ_H`$, namely, there is a strict degeneracy between the vacuum mixing angle $`\varphi =\theta _{13}`$ and the nonstandard coupling $`ϵ_H`$ given in Eq. (44).

The $`(\varphi ,ϵ_H)`$ degeneracy in supernova neutrino oscillations can be rather dangerous for the interpretation of experimental data. Supernova $`\nu `$ oscillations may offer one of the few opportunities to probe experimentally very small values of $`\varphi `$, and any uncontrolled bias of the kind $`\varphi \varphi +ϵ_H`$ may lead to dramatic differences in the theoretical inferences from the experimental data. In extreme cases, nonstandard interactions might either completely mimic ($`\varphi =0`$, $`ϵ_H0`$) or completely cancel ($`\varphi =ϵ_H`$) “standard” $`\varphi `$-related effects in the $`H`$ transition.131313We remind the reader that, even assuming restrictive bounds on the $`ϵ_{\alpha \beta }`$ BeKa ; Be00 ; Be99 ; Gr00 , one cannot currently exclude values of $`ϵ_H`$ as large as a few percent. An analogous “confusion scenario,” with degeneracy between effects of nonstandard interactions and of $`\varphi 0`$, has recently been discussed in Hu02  in the context of oscillation searches at neutrino factories. The main message emerging from such results is that constraining $`\varphi `$ will generally be a very challenging task, if allowance is made for nonstandard (flavor changing) neutrino interactions, with strength as weak as a few percent of the standard (flavor diagonal) electroweak one.141414At a more sophisticated level, for complex $`ϵ_{\alpha \beta }`$ there can also be confusion between standard and nonstandard CP-violation phase effects in (very) long baseline experiments; see, e.g., Go01 ; Sa02 .

We conclude this section with a positive remark, by showing that not everything is necessarily biased by nonstandard interactions. In particular, the spectrum hierarchy discrimination (direct vs inverse) may still be viable. Let us consider the phenomenologically interesting case of the so-called large mixing angle solution (LMA) to the solar neutrino problem Sola , requiring $`\delta m^2O(10^5)`$ eV2 and $`\mathrm{tan}^2\omega 1`$, so that $`P_L0`$ (adiabatic $`L`$ transition). For small $`\varphi `$, the supernova electron (anti)neutrino survival probabilities are approximately given (up to Earth matter effects) by

$`P_{ee}^{\mathrm{dir}}(\nu )`$ $``$ $`\mathrm{sin}^2\omega e^{2\pi r_Hk_H\mathrm{sin}^2(\varphi +ϵ_H)},`$ (53)
$`P_{ee}^{\mathrm{dir}}(\overline{\nu })`$ $``$ $`\mathrm{cos}^2\omega ,`$ (54)
$`P_{ee}^{\mathrm{inv}}(\nu )`$ $``$ $`\mathrm{sin}^2\omega ,`$ (55)
$`P_{ee}^{\mathrm{inv}}(\overline{\nu })`$ $``$ $`\mathrm{cos}^2\omega e^{2\pi r_Hk_H\mathrm{sin}^2(\varphi +ϵ_H)},`$ (56)
where the superscripts denote the cases of direct or inverse hierarchy. From such equations one can derive the following $`ϵ_H`$-independent inequalities,

$`P_{ee}^{\mathrm{dir}}(\nu )`$ $`<`$ $`P_{ee}^{\mathrm{inv}}(\nu ),`$ (57)
$`P_{ee}^{\mathrm{dir}}(\overline{\nu })`$ $`>`$ $`P_{ee}^{\mathrm{inv}}(\overline{\nu }),`$ (58)
and

$$P_{ee}^{\mathrm{dir}}(\nu )/P_{ee}^{\mathrm{dir}}(\overline{\nu })<P_{ee}^{\mathrm{inv}}(\nu )/P_{ee}^{\mathrm{inv}}(\overline{\nu }),$$
(59)
which become all stronger for decreasing neutrino energy. Such relations can then be used to infer information about the mass spectrum hierarchy from general features of supernova (anti)neutrino event spectra,151515The phenomenological implementation of the above inequalities requires, of course, that $`P_{ee}`$ is folded with $`\nu `$ (or $`\overline{\nu }`$) energy spectra and cross sections. This further step is beyond the scope of the present work. analogously to the standard case Mi01 ; Lu01 ; Wood . The hierarchy discrimination becomes impossible, however, for $`\mathrm{sin}^2(\varphi +ϵ_H)10^5`$ (corresponding to $`\mathrm{exp}[2\pi r_Hk_H\mathrm{sin}^2(\varphi +ϵ_H)]1`$), in which case the above three relations become equalities.

We finally remind that, under certain conditions (see the end of Sec. II), additional nonstandard transitions might take place just above the neutrinosphere Va87 ; Vall . In this case (not considered here), the global $`P_{ee}`$ function should be obtained by convolving such transitions with those ($`H`$ and $`L`$) considered in this and in the previous section, leading to a more complicated phenomenology.

## VI Summary

We have revisited the effects of nonstandard four-fermion interactions (with strength $`ϵ_{\alpha \beta }G_F`$) on supernova neutrino oscillations occurring above the protoneutron star. Under reasonable approximations, we have found that the oscillation probability can be written in an analytical form, valid in the whole $`2\nu `$ parameter space, and applicable also to the $`3\nu `$ parameter space in hierarchical (direct or inverse) cases. Our approach generalizes previous results, which are recovered as specific limits. We find that, as far as the transitions at high $`(H)`$ and low $`(L)`$ density are concerned, the main effects of the new interactions can be embedded through (positive or negative) shifts of the relevant mixing angles $`\varphi =\theta _{13}`$ and $`\omega =\theta _{12}`$, namely, $`\varphi \varphi +ϵ_H`$ and $`\omega \omega +ϵ_L`$, respectively \[see Eqs. (44) and (46)\]. Barring the case of small $`\omega `$ (disfavored by solar neutrino data), and apart from small $`ϵ_L`$-induced Earth matter effects, the main phenomenological implication of such results is a strict degeneracy between standard $`(\varphi )`$ and nonstandard $`(ϵ_H)`$ effects on the $`H`$ supernova $`\nu `$ transition. However, such a degeneracy does not necessarily spoil the discrimination between direct and inverse neutrino mass spectrum hierarchy. Our work is complementary to studies Vall  of nonstandard transition phenomena possibly occurring just above the neutrinosphere.

###### Acknowledgements.

This work was supported in part by the Italian Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN) and Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Università e della Ricerca (MIUR) under the project “Fisica Astroparticellare.” We thank J.W.F. Valle for very useful discussions.