Neutrino emission from a GRB afterglow shock during an inner supernova shock breakout

TL;DR

This paper investigates neutrino production in the early afterglow phase of low-luminosity GRBs associated with supernovae, suggesting potential detectability by IceCube and implications for understanding GRB-supernova connections.

Contribution

It introduces a model for neutrino emission from GRB afterglows during supernova shock breakout, highlighting the potential for neutrino detection from nearby low-luminosity GRBs.

Findings

Neutrinos can be produced via photopion interactions in GRB afterglows.

Detection prospects are promising with IceCube for nearby low-luminosity GRBs.

The model links supernova shock breakout to neutrino signals in GRB afterglows.

Abstract

The observations of a nearby low-luminosity gamma-ray burst (GRB) 060218 associated with supernova SN 2006aj may imply an interesting astronomical picture where a supernova shock breakout locates behind a relativistic GRB jet. Based on this picture, we study neutrino emission for early afterglows of GRB 060218-like GRBs, where neutrinos are expected to be produced from photopion interactions in a GRB blast wave that propagates into a dense wind. Relativistic protons for the interactions are accelerated by an external shock, while target photons are basically provided by the incoming thermal emission from the shock breakout and its inverse-Compton scattered component. Because of a high estimated event rate of low-luminosity GRBs, we would have more opportunities to detect afterglow neutrinos from a single nearby GRB event of this type by IceCube. Such a possible detection could provide evidence for the picture described above.