Magnetar-powered Neutrinos and Magnetic Moment Signatures at IceCube

TL;DR

This paper investigates how strong magnetic fields near astrophysical objects like magnetars can influence high-energy neutrino signals at IceCube through neutrino magnetic moments, potentially revealing new physics.

Contribution

It introduces a novel scenario where neutrino magnetic moments affect detectable signals from magnetars, expanding the search for physics beyond the Standard Model.

Findings

Detectable signatures of neutrino magnetic moments could appear at IceCube.

Neutrino magnetic moments in the range of 10^{-15} to 10^{-12} μ_B are relevant.

Magnetar environments can significantly alter neutrino flavor and helicity.

Abstract

The IceCube collaboration pioneered the detection of $\mathcal{O}{(\text{PeV})}$ neutrino events and the identification of astrophysical sources of high-energy neutrinos. In this study, we explore scenarios in which high-energy neutrinos are produced in the vicinity of astrophysical objects with strong magnetic field, such as magnetars. While propagating through such magnetic field, neutrinos experience spin precession induced by their magnetic moments, and this impacts their helicity and flavor composition at Earth. Considering both flavor composition of high-energy neutrinos and Glashow resonance events we find that detectable signatures may arise at neutrino telescopes, such as IceCube, for presently unconstrained neutrino magnetic moments in the range between $\mathcal{O}(10^{-15})~\mu_B$ and $\mathcal{O}(10^{-12})~\mu_B$.