PeV neutrinos from wind breakouts of type II supernovae

TL;DR

This paper proposes that wind breakouts of type II supernovae can produce high-energy neutrinos detectable by IceCube, linking supernova shock physics with observed astrophysical neutrino flux.

Contribution

It introduces a model where supernova wind breakouts generate neutrinos, explaining a significant part of IceCube's high-energy neutrino observations.

Findings

Supernova wind breakouts can convert ~10^-3 of kinetic energy into neutrinos.

Regular SNe II can account for IceCube neutrinos above 300 TeV.

Starburst galaxies' cosmic rays contribute to neutrino flux below 200 TeV.

Abstract

Recently, the rapid multiwavelength photometry and flash spectra of supernova (SN) 2013fs imply that the progenitor stars of regular type II SNe (SNe II) might be commonly surrounded with a confined dense stellar wind ejected by themselves with large mass loss rate few years before the SNe. Based on the assumption that the pre-SN progenitor stars of SNe II have a SN 2013fs-like wind, with mass loss rate $\dot{M}\sim3\times10^{-3}(v_w/100\rm km\,s^{-1})M_\odot\rm yr^{-1}$, we investigate the neutrino emission during the wind breakouts of SN shocks. We find that the regular SNe II can convert a fraction $\sim10^{-3}$ of their bulk kinetic energy into neutrino emission, which can contribute a significant fraction of the IceCube-detected neutrino flux at $\ga300$ TeV. Moreover, the $\la200$~TeV IceCube neutrinos can be accounted for by cosmic rays produced by the shocks of all SN remnants, losing energy in their host galaxies, i.e., starburst galaxies. The future follow-up observations of neutrinos by Gen2 and gamma-rays by CTA and LHAASO from nearby individual SNe II, within weeks after the explosions, will test this model.