Quasithermal Neutrinos from Rotating Protoneutron Stars Born during Core Collapse of Massive Stars

TL;DR

This paper proposes that neutrinos with energies around 0.1-1 GeV are produced during the cooling of rotating, magnetized protoneutron stars after core collapse, and discusses their potential detection and implications.

Contribution

It introduces a novel mechanism for neutrino production in protoneutron star winds without cosmic-ray acceleration, linking neutrino signals to supernova physics.

Findings

Neutrinos in the 0.1-1 GeV range can be produced at the termination shock inside the star.

Detection prospects for such neutrinos with PINGU and Hyper-Kamiokande are promising for nearby supernovae.

Neutrino detection can shed light on magnetic acceleration, nucleosynthesis, and neutron star properties.

Abstract

Rotating and magnetized protoneutron stars (PNSs) may drive relativistic magneto-centrifugally accelerated winds as they cool immediately after core collapse. The wind fluid near the star is composed of neutrons and protons, and the neutrons become relativistic while collisionally coupled with the ions. Here, we argue that the neutrons in the flow eventually undergo inelastic collisions around the termination shock inside the stellar material, producing ~0.1-1 GeV neutrinos, without relying on cosmic-ray acceleration mechanisms. Even higher-energy neutrinos may be produced via particle acceleration mechanisms. We show that PINGU and Hyper-Kamiokande can detect such neutrinos from nearby core-collapse supernovae, by reducing the atmospheric neutrino background via coincident detection of MeV neutrinos or gravitational waves and optical observations. Detection of these GeV and/or higher-energy neutrinos would provide important clues to the physics of magnetic acceleration, nucleosynthesis, the relation between supernovae and gamma-ray bursts, and the properties of newly born neutron stars.