A Unified Framework for 10 TeV to EeV Diffuse Neutrino Sky and KM3-230213A

TL;DR

This paper proposes a unified physical framework linking low-luminosity gamma-ray bursts to the entire 10 TeV to EeV diffuse neutrino spectrum, explaining recent ultra-high-energy neutrino detections and guiding future observations.

Contribution

It introduces a multicomponent neutrino flux model from LL GRBs that accounts for both low- and high-energy neutrino observations within a single framework.

Findings

The model explains the 220 PeV neutrino event KM3-230213A.

It predicts a two-hump neutrino spectrum from LL GRBs.

Constraints on source distance and luminosity are derived from gamma-ray limits.

Abstract

Establishing a unified framework that simultaneously accounts for the wideband diffuse neutrino flux and the physical origin of individual ultra-high-energy (UHE) neutrino detections, including KM3-230213A, remains a pressing challenge in multi-messenger astrophysics. In intrinsically low-luminosity gamma-ray bursts (LL~GRBs) driven by shock breakouts (SBOs), the evolving physical conditions naturally produce a multicomponent neutrino flux extending from 10 TeV to the EeV scale. By integrating prompt and afterglow phases within a unified framework grounded in multiwavelength observations of representative events, we show that LL GRB population accounts for this broadband neutrino emission through a characteristic two-hump spectrum. In this framework, the prompt emission from GRB~060218-like events accounts for $\gtrsim 10\%$ of the diffuse flux at 100~TeV, while GRB~100316D-like afterglow configuration predicts a distinct flux peak near $10^{-9}\rm~GeV~cm^{-2}~s^{-1}~sr^{-1}$ at 100~PeV. This two-hump spectrum provides a high-energy component flux consistent with the 220 PeV KM3-230213A event, while the low-energy component contributes non-trivially to the observed diffuse neutrinos and supports the lack of individual low-energy counterparts. Furthermore, we utilize Fermi-LAT gamma-ray upper limits to place constraints on the source distance and luminosity of the event, assuming a GRB 100316D-like afterglow configuration. Ultimately, this framework identifies SBO-like LL~GRBs as a unifying origin for these phenomena, providing a physical link across the 10 TeV to EeV neutrino sky that is testable by next-generation observatories, including GRAND, IceCube-Gen2, and RNO-G.