Multimessenger astronomy driven by high-energy neutrinos

TL;DR

This paper explores the potential of multi-messenger astronomy combining high-energy neutrinos and electromagnetic signals to identify cosmic sources, proposing strategies for detection and source characterization.

Contribution

It introduces a unification model for neutrino and UHECR sources and proposes observational strategies to identify transient astrophysical objects as common sources.

Findings

Likely sources are transient or flaring objects in optical and X-ray bands.

Detection strategies include sub-threshold X-ray triggering and multi-neutrino event correlation.

Sources with neutrino energy >10^{51} erg are detectable with current or upcoming facilities.

Abstract

The possible connection between high energy neutrinos in the energy region above 100 TeV and ultrahigh energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) at energies above $10^{19}$ eV motivates multi-messenger observation approaches involving neutrinos and the multi-wavelength electro-magnetic (EMG) signals. We have constructed a generic unification scheme to model the neutrino and UHECR common sources. Finding the allowed space of the parameters on the source characteristics allows a case study to evaluate the likelihood of each of the known source classes being such unified sources. The likely source candidates are transient or flaring objects mainly in optical and X-ray bands. We propose the two feasible strategies to identify these sources. One is to introduce a sub-threshold triggering in a wide field of view X-ray observatory for following up neutrino detections, and the other is to search for EMG counterparts associated with detections of multiple neutrino events coming from the same direction within a time scale of $\lesssim 30$ days. Sources with a total neutrino emission energy greater than $\sim 10^{51}$ erg are accessible with the present or near-future high energy neutrino observation facilities collaborating with X-rays and optical telescopes currently in operation. The neutrino-driven multi-messenger observations provide a smoking gun to probe the hadronic emission sources we would not be able to find otherwise.