Supernova 1987A did not test the neutrino mass hierarchy

Abstract

We dispel the misconception that data from SN 1987A favor the normal neutrino mass hierarchy over the inverted hierarchy for $\sin^2 \theta_{13} \gsim 10^{-4}$. We find comparable fits for the two hierarchies. No bound can be placed on the mixing angle $\theta_{13}$ even at the 1$\sigma$ level.