Could a multi-PeV neutrino event have as origin the internal shocks inside the GRB progenitor star?

The IceCube Collaboration initially reported the detection of 37 extraterrestrial neutrinos in the TeV - PeV energy range. The reconstructed neutrino events were obtained during three consecutive years of data taking, from 2010 to 2013. Although these events have been discussed to have an extragalactic origin, they have not been correlated to any known source. Recently, the IceCube Collaboration reported a neutrino-induced muon event with energy of $2.6\pm0.3$ PeV which corresponds to the highest event ever detected. Neither the reconstructed direction of this event (J2000.0), detected on June 11 2014 at R.A.=110$^\circ$.34, Dec.=11$^\circ$.48 matches with any familiar source. Long gamma-ray bursts (lGRBs) are usually associated with the core collapse of massive stars leading relativistic-collimated jets inside stars with high-energy neutrino production. These neutrinos have been linked to the 37 events previously detected by IceCube experiment. In this work, we explore the conditions and values of parameters so that the highest neutrino recently detected could be generated by proton-photon and proton-hadron interactions at internal shocks inside lGRB progenitor star and then detected in IceCube experiment. Considering that internal shocks take place in a relativistic collimated jet, whose (half) opening angle is $\theta_0\sim$ 0.1, we found that lGRBs with total luminosity $L\lesssim 10^{48}$ erg/s and internal shocks on the surface of progenitors such as Wolf-Rayet (WR) and blue super giant (BSG) stars favor this multi-PeV neutrino production, although this neutrino could be associated to $L\sim 10^{50.5}$ ($\sim 10^{50}$) erg/s provided that the internal shocks occur at $\sim 10^9$ ($\sim 10^{10.2}$) cm for a WR (BSG).Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures. JHEAp, accepted. References were added, typos were corrected and the subsection "particle acceleration process" was include

Gamma-ray fluxes from the core emission of Centaurus A: A puzzle solved

A high-energy component in the radio galaxy Centaurus A was reported after analyzing four years of Fermi data. The spectrum of this component is described by means of a broken power law with a break energy of 4 GeV and, below and above spectral indices of $\alpha_1$=2.74$\pm$0.03 and $\alpha_2$=2.09$\pm$0.20, respectively. Also a faint $\gamma$-ray flux at TeV energies was detected by H.E.S.S.. In this paper we show that the spectrum at GeV-TeV energies is described through synchrotron self-Compton emission up to a few GeV ($\sim$ 4 GeV) and $\pi^0$ decay products up to TeV energies, although the emission of synchrotron radiation by muons could contribute to the spectrum at GeV energies, if they are rapidly accelerated. Muons and $\pi^0$s are generated in the interactions of accelerated protons with two populations of seed photons which were reported by Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory: one population at intermediate state emission with energy peak of 0.15 MeV and another at low state emission with energy peak of 0.59 MeV. In addition, we show that the reported observations of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays and non high-energy neutrino detection around Centaurus A can be explained through these interactions, assuming that proton spectrum is extended up to ultra-high-energies.Comment: MNRAS, accepte

Propagation and neutrino oscillations in the base of a highly magnetized gamma-ray burst fireball flow

Neutrons play an important role in the dynamics of gamma-ray bursts. The presence of neutrons in the baryon-loaded fireball is expected. If the neutrons abundance is comparable to that of protons, important features may be observed such as quasi-thermal multi-GeV neutrinos in coincidence with a subphotospheric $\gamma$-ray emission, nucleosynthesis at later times and rebrightening of the afterglow emission. Additionally, thermal MeV neutrinos are created by electron-positron annihilation, electron (positron) capture on protons (neutrons) and nucleonic bremsstrahlung. Although MeV neutrinos are difficult to detect, quasi-thermal GeV neutrinos are expected in km$^3$ detectors and/or DeepCore+IceCube. In this paper, we show that neutrino oscillations have outstanding implications for the dynamics of the fireball evolution and also that they can be detected through their flavor ratio on Earth. For that we derive the resonance and charged-neutrality conditions as well as the neutrino self-energy and effective potential up to order $m_W^{-4}$ at strong, moderate and weak magnetic field approximation to constrain the dynamics of the fireball. We found important implications: i) resonant oscillations are suppressed for high baryon densities as well as neutrons abundance larger than that of protons and ii) the effect of magnetic field is to decrease the proton-to-neutron ratio aside from the number of multi-GeV neutrinos expected in DeepCore detector. Also we estimate the GeV neutrino flavor ratios along the jet and on Earth.Comment: ApJ, accepted. There was not changes with respect to the previous versio

Could a plasma in quasi-thermal equilibrium be associated to the "orphan" TeV flares ?

TeV $\gamma$-ray detections in flaring states without activity in X-rays from blazars have attracted much attention due to the irregularity of these "orphan" flares. Although the synchrotron self-Compton model has been very successful in explaining the spectral energy distribution and spectral variability of these sources, it has not been able to describe these atypical flaring events. On the other hand, an electron-positron pair plasma at the base of the AGN jet was proposed as the mechanism of bulk acceleration of relativistic outflows. This plasma in quasi-themal equilibrium called Wein fireball emits radiation at MeV-peak energies serving as target of accelerated protons. In this work we describe the "orphan" TeV flares presented in blazars 1ES 1959+650 and Mrk421 assuming geometrical considerations in the jet and evoking the interactions of Fermi-accelerated protons and MeV-peak target photons coming from the Wein fireball. After describing successfully these "orphan" TeV flares, we correlate the TeV $\gamma$-ray, neutrino and UHECR fluxes through p$\gamma$ interactions and calculate the number of high-energy neutrinos and UHECRs expected in IceCube/AMANDA and TA experiment, respectively. In addition, thermal MeV neutrinos produced mainly through electron-positron annihilation at the Wein fireball will be able to propagate through it. By considering two- (solar, atmospheric and accelerator parameters) and three-neutrino mixing, we study the resonant oscillations and estimate the neutrino flavor ratios as well as the number of thermal neutrinos expected on Earth.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astroparticle Physics (31 pages, 14 figures

GRB 110731A: Early afterglow in stellar wind powered by a magnetized outflow

One of the most energetic gamma-ray burst GRB 110731A was observed from optical to GeV energy range. Previous analysis on the prompt phase revealed similarities with the Large Area Telescope (LAT) bursts observed by Fermi: i) a delayed onset of the high-energy emission ($> 100$ MeV), ii) a short-lasting bright peak at later times and iii) a temporally extended component from this phase and lasting hundreds of seconds. Additionally to the prompt phase, multiwavelength observations over different epochs showed that the spectral energy distribution was better fitted by a wind afterglow model. We present a leptonic model based on an early afterglow that evolves in a stellar wind of its progenitor. We apply this model to interpret the temporally extended LAT emission and the brightest LAT peak exhibited by the prompt phase of GRB 110731A. Additionally, using the same set of parameters, we describe the multiwavelength afterglow observations. The origin of the temporally extended LAT, X-ray and optical flux is explained through synchrotron radiation from the forward shock and the brightest LAT peak is described evoking the synchrotron self-Compton emission from the reverse shock. The bulk Lorentz factor required in this model ($\Gamma\simeq520$) lies in the range of values demanded for most LAT-detected gamma-ray bursts. We show that the strength of the magnetic field in the reverse-shock region is $\sim$ 50 times stronger than in the forward-shock region. This result suggests that for GRB 110731A, the central engine is likely entrained with strong magnetic fields.Comment: Accepted in ApJ (13 Pages, 4 figures

Resonant oscillations of GeV - TeV neutrinos in internal shocks from gamma-ray burst jets inside the stars

High-energy neutrinos generated in collimated jets inside the progenitors of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) have been related with the events detected by IceCube. These neutrinos, produced by hadronic interactions of Fermi-accelerated protons with thermal photons and hadrons in internal shocks, are the only signature when jet has not broken out or failed. Taking into account that the photon field is thermalized at keV energies and the standard assumption that the magnetic field maintains a steady value throughout the shock region (with a width of $10^{10} - 10^{11}$ cm in the observed frame), we study the effect of thermal and magnetized plasma generated in internal shocks on the neutrino oscillations. We calculate the neutrino effective potential generated by this plasma, the effects of the envelope of the star, and the vacuum on the path to Earth. By considering these three effects, the two (solar, atmospheric and accelerator parameters) and three neutrino mixing, we show that although GeV - TeV neutrinos can oscillate resonantly from one flavor to another, a nonsignificant deviation of the standard flavor ratio (1:1:1) could be expected on Earth.Comment: Accepted in MNRAS (17 Pages, 12 figures

Neutrino, γ\gamma-ray and cosmic ray fluxes from the core of the closest radio galaxies

The closest radio galaxies; Centaurus A, M87 and NGC 1275, have been detected from radio wavelengths to TeV $\gamma$-rays, and also studied as high-energy neutrino and ultra-high-energy cosmic ray potential emitters. Their spectral energy distributions show a double-peak feature, which is explained by synchrotron self-Compton model. However, TeV $\gamma$-ray measured spectra could suggest that very-high-energy $\gamma$-rays might have a hadronic origin. We introduce a lepto-hadronic model to describe the broadband spectral energy distribution; from radio to sub GeV photons as synchrotron self-Compton emission and TeV $\gamma$-ray photons as neutral pion decay resulting from p$\gamma$ interactions occurring close to the core. These photo-hadronic interactions take place when Fermi-accelerated protons interact with the seed photons around synchrotron self-Compton peaks. Obtaining a good description of the TeV $\gamma$-ray fluxes, firstly, we compute neutrino fluxes and events expected in IceCube detector and secondly, we estimate ultra-high-energy cosmic ray fluxes and event rate expected in Telescope Array, Pierre Auger and HiRes observatories. Within this scenario we show that the expected high-energy neutrinos cannot explain the astrophysical flux observed by IceCube, and the connection with ultra-high-energy cosmic rays observed by Auger experiment around Centaurus A, might be possible only considering a heavy nuclei composition in the observed events.Comment: 16 pages and 7 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap

Neutrino Oscillation from Magnetized Strange Stars

Strange-quark matter (SQM) is a likely candidate of the ground state of nuclear matter. Along with many other equations of state (EoSs), SQM seemed to be severely constrained by the recent discoveries of the 1.97 $M_\odot$ PSR J1614-2230 and the 2.01 $M_\odot$ PSR J0348+0432. However with new, $O(\alpha_c^2)$, perturbative calculations, SQM seems to be able to accommodate masses as large as $\sim 2.75 M_\odot$. The literature of SQM stars or strange stars includes estimates of internal magnetic fields as large as $10^{20}$ G, which are unlikely to be formed as they would require $\sim 10^{57}$ erg to be produced. Nonetheless, if strange stars may hold magnetar-strength fields ($10^{15}$ G), their internal fields are likely to reach magnetic fields as large as $10^{17}$ G. We consider neutrinos with energies of some MeV and oscillation parameters from solar, atmospheric and accelerator experiments. We study the possibility of resonant oscillation of neutrinos in strange stars.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures. To appear in Magnetic Fields in the Universe IV (2013

Hypercritical accretion phase and neutrino expectation in the evolution of Cassiopeia A

Cassiopeia A the youngest supernova remnant known in the Milky Way is one of the brightest radio sources in the sky and a unique laboratory for supernova physics. Although its compact remnant was discovered in 1999 by the Chandra X-Ray Observatory, nowadays it is widely accepted that a neutron star lies in the center of this supernova remnant. In addition, new observations suggest that such neutron star with a low magnetic field and evidence of a carbon atmosphere could have suffered a hypercritical accretion phase seconds after the explosion. Considering this hypercritical accretion episode, we compute the neutrino cooling effect, the number of events and neutrino flavor ratios expected on Hyper-Kamiokande Experiment. The neutrino cooling effect (the emissivity and luminosity of neutrinos) is obtained through numerical simulations performed in a customized version of the FLASH code. Based on these simulations, we forecast that the number of events expected on the Hyper-Kamiokande Experiment is around 3195. Similarly, we estimate the neutrino flavor ratios to be detected considering the neutrino effective potential due to the thermal and magnetized plasma and thanks to the envelope of the star. It is worth noting that our estimates correspond to the only trustworthy method for verifying the hypercritical phase and although this episode took place 330 years ago, at present supernova remnants with these similarities might occur thus confirming our predictions for this phase.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS (14 pages, 6 figures

Neutrino Oscillation from Hidden GRB Jets

Collapsars are the likely progenitors of Long Gamma-Ray Burst (lGRBs). lGRBs have been observed to last for thousands to tens of thousands of seconds, thus making unlikely the neutrino-driven engine as the main mechanism for driving the jets. In this context, the Blandford-Znajek mechanism seems likely to explain the production of rotational-axis directed jets without the need for large accretion rates. These engines, require magnetic fields between $10^{12}$ G $< B < 10^{15}$ G threading the innerdisk, Kerr-BH region to exist. We derive the neutrino self-energy and the effective potential up to O(1/$M_W^4$) in a weakly and highly magnetized GRB fireball flow which is made up of electrons, protons, neutrons and their anti-particles. We consider neutrino energies of 1-100 MeV which are produced during stellar collapse, merger events or in the fireball itself by electron-positron annihilation, inverse beta decay and nucleonic bremsstrahlung processes. Many of these neutrinos propagate through the fireball and may oscillate resonantly. Using two-neutrino mixing we study the possibility of these oscillations.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, To appear in MAGNETIC FIELDS IN THE UNIVERSE 4 (2013). arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1401.378