Sensitivity of JEM-EUSO to GRB Neutrinos

TL;DR

This paper evaluates JEM-EUSO's potential to detect tau neutrinos from nearby gamma-ray bursts by simulating neutrino fluxes and assessing the observatory's sensitivity to upward-going air showers.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed simulation-based estimation of GRB neutrino fluxes and analyzes JEM-EUSO's sensitivity to detect these neutrinos via Cherenkov light from Earth-skimming tau neutrinos.

Findings

Muons and pions are the main neutrino sources at 10^{16-18} eV.

JEM-EUSO can potentially detect Cherenkov light from tau neutrinos from close GRBs.

Neutrino flux estimates suggest detectable signals are possible from nearby GRBs.

Abstract

JEM-EUSO is a mission to study ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) by measuring the fluorescence light from giant air showers at the altitude of the International Space Station. In the tilted mode, JEM-EUSO will become very sensitive to the \v{C}erenkov light from the earth skimming tau neutrinos at the energy range of $10^{16-18}$eV. In this paper we will discuss high-energy tau neutrinos from nearby gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). From simulations of cascade in GRB photon fields including various hadronic/leptonic processes, we estimate the neutrino flux from GRBs. Our results show that both muons and pions are dominant sources of neutrinos at the energy range of $10^{16-18}$ eV. We discuss the possibility of detecting the \v{C}erenkov light of upward going showers from Earth skimming tau neutrinos coming from some closest GRBs.