Neutrino transport: no asymmetry in equilibrium

A small asymmetry in the flux of neutrinos emitted by a hot newly-born neutron star could explain the observed motions of pulsars. However, even in the presence of parity-violating processes with anisotropic scattering amplitudes, no asymmetry is generated in thermal equilibrium. We explain why this no-go theorem stymies some of the proposed explanations for the pulsar “kick” velocities.