Neutrino Clouds

Abstract

We consider the possibility that neutrinos are coupled very weakly to an extremely light scalar boson. We first analyze the simple problem of one generation of neutrino and show that, for ranges of parameters that are allowed by existing data, such a system can have serious consequences for the evolution of stars and could impact precision laboratory measurements. We discuss the extension to more generations and show that the general conclusion remains viable. Finally, we note that, should such a scalar field be present, experiments give information about effective masses, not the masses that arise in unified field theories.