The neutrino luminosity and energy spectrum of nova outburst

TL;DR

This study models the neutrino luminosity and energy spectrum of nova outbursts, analyzing how white dwarf properties influence neutrino production during different phases, and predicts neutrino signals for the upcoming T Coronae Borealis nova.

Contribution

It provides detailed predictions of neutrino luminosity and spectra for novae with varying parameters, including a specific forecast for T CrB's next outburst.

Findings

Neutrino luminosity peaks during thermonuclear runaway phase.

More massive white dwarfs have shorter cycle times and higher neutrino luminosity.

High-energy neutrino flux from T CrB is undetectable by current IceCube detectors.

Abstract

The nova outburst can produce a large number of neutrinos, whether it is the nuclear reaction process during the explosion or the shock wave acceleration proton process. We study the low-energy nuclear and thermal neutrino luminosity of novae with CO white dwarf (WD) mass ranging from 0.6 to 1.1 $\rm M_{\odot}$ with different accretion rates $\dot{M}$, core temperatures $(T_{\mathrm{C}})$, and mixing degrees. We find that during the accretion phase, low-energy neutrinos are mainly produced by pp chains and plasma decay, and photon luminosity is greater than low-energy nuclear and thermal neutrino luminosity. During the thermonuclear runaway (TNR) phase, low-energy neutrinos are mainly produced by the CNO cycle and photon-neutrino, and the low-energy nuclear and thermal neutrino luminosity far exceeds the photon luminosity. We find that the more massive the WD, the shorter the cycle time and the higher the low-energy nuclear neutrino luminosity. The higher the accretion rate, the lower the low-energy nuclear neutrino luminosity. If the accretion mixing effect is not taken into account, the outburst interval becomes longer, the low-energy nuclear neutrino luminosity will be increased. And for the cooler nova model $(T_{\mathrm{C}}=1\times10^{7}\rm K)$, the low-energy nuclear neutrino luminosity will be lower during the accretion phase and higher at the TNR. We also predict the neutrino luminosity and energy spectrum of the upcoming recurrent nova T Coronae Borealis (T CrB). We estimate that the next T CrB outburst has a low-energy nuclear neutrino peak luminosity of $2.7\times10^{8}\ \rm L_{\nu,\odot}$ and a low-energy nuclear neutrino outburst duration of 88 days. In addition, we predict that the high-energy hadronic neutrino flux produced by T CrB nova can not be observed by the current-generation IceCube.