Neutrino Scattering in Strangeness-Rich Stellar Matter

Abstract

We calculate neutrino cross sections from neutral current reactions in dense matter containing hyperons. We show that Sigma- hyperons give significant contributions. To lowest order, the contributions from the neutral Lambda and Sigma0, which have zero hyper-charge, vanish. However, their presence furnishes baryon number which decreases the relative concentrations of nucleons. This leads to significant reductions in the cross sections. Due to the uncertainty in strong interactions at high density, the neutrino opacity may vary by a factor of about 2 depending on the behavior of the effective masses.