Neutrinos from explosive transients at the dawn of multi-messenger astronomy

TL;DR

This paper reviews the role of neutrinos in explosive astrophysical transients, emphasizing their importance in multi-messenger astronomy and discussing detection strategies for sources like collapsing stars and neutron-star mergers.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of neutrino physics in explosive transients and discusses how upcoming multi-messenger data can enhance source understanding.

Findings

Neutrinos carry unique information about explosive transients.

Neutrino physics impacts multi-messenger observational strategies.

Open issues in optimizing neutrino detection are identified.

Abstract

With the advent of time-domain astronomy and the game-changing next generation of telescopes, we have unprecedented opportunities to explore the most energetic events in our Universe through electromagnetic radiation, gravitational waves, and neutrinos. These are elementary particles, which exist in three different flavors and change the latter as they propagate in the dense core of astrophysical sources as well as en route to Earth. To capitalize on existing and upcoming multi-messenger opportunities, it is crucial to understand: 1. the role of neutrinos in explosive transient sources as well as in the synthesis of the elements heavier than iron; 2. the impact of neutrino physics on the multi-messenger observables; 3. the information on the source physics carried by the detectable neutrino signal. In this review, the status of this exciting and fast-moving field is outlined, focusing on astrophysical sources linked to collapsing massive stars and neutron-star mergers. In light of the upcoming plethora of multi-messenger data, outstanding open issues concerning the optimization of multi-messenger detection strategies are discussed.