Fast neutrino flavor conversion: roles of dense matter and spectrum crossing

The flavor conversion of a neutrino usually occurs at densities $lesssim G_F^{-1} omega$, whether in the ordinary matter or the neutrino medium, and on time/distance scales of order $omega^{-1}$, where $G_F$ is the Fermi weak coupling constant and $omega$ is the vacuum oscillation frequency of the neutrino. In 2005 Sawyer and more recently both he and other groups have shown that neutrino flavor