Resonant neutrino spin-flavor precession and supernova shock revival

A new mechanism of supernova shock revival is proposed, which involves resonant spin--flavor precession of neutrinos with a transition magnetic moment in the magnetic field of the supernova. The mechanism can be operative in supernovae for transition magnetic moments as small as $10^{-14}\mu_B$ provided the neutrino mass squared difference is in the range $\Delta m^2 \sim (3 \;{\rm eV})^2-(600 \;{\rm eV})^2$. It is shown that this mechanism can increase the neutrino--induced shock reheating energy by about 60\%.