On the detection of neutrinos from solar flares using pion-decay photons to provide a time window template

TL;DR

This paper proposes a novel method using a data-driven time window template to improve the detection of neutrinos from solar flares, which could shed light on solar flare physics and particle acceleration.

Contribution

It introduces a new search strategy for solar flare neutrinos based on pion-decay photons and a specific flare sample, enhancing detection prospects.

Findings

Proposes a time window template for neutrino detection

Links neutrino signals to pion-decay photons in solar flares

Aims to constrain solar flare particle acceleration parameters

Abstract

Since the end of the eighties and in response to a reported increase in the total neutrino flux in the Homestake experiment in coincidence with solar flares, solar neutrino detectors have searched for solar flare signals. Even though these detectors have used different solar flare samples and analyses, none of them has been able to confirm the possible signal seen by Homestake. Neutrinos from the decay of mesons, which are themselves produced in collisions of accelerated ions with the solar atmosphere would provide a novel window on the underlying physics of the hadronic acceleration and interaction processes during solar flares. Solar flare neutrino flux measurements would indeed help to constrain current parameters such as the composition of the accelerated flux, the proton/ion spectral index and the high energy cutoff or the magnetic configuration in the interaction region. We describe here a new way to search for these neutrinos by considering a specific solar flare sample and a data driven time window template which will improve the likelihood of neutrino detection.