Testing Lorentz invariance with neutrino bursts from supernova neutronization

Quantum-gravity (QG) effects might generate Lorentz invariance violation by the interaction of energetic particles with the foamy structure of the space-time. As a consequence, particles may not travel at the universal speed of light. We propose to constrain Lorentz invariance violation for energetic neutrinos exploiting the $\nu_e$ neutronization burst from the next galactic supernova (SN). This prompt signal is expected to produce a sharp peak in the SN $\nu_e$ light curve with a duration of $\sim 25$ ms. However presence of energy-dependent Lorentz invariance violation would significantly spread out the time structure of this signal. We find that the detection the SN $\nu_e$ burst from a typical galactic explosion at $d=10$ kpc in a Mton-class water Cerenkov detector, would be sensitive to a quantum-gravity mass scale $M_{\rm QG} \sim 10^{12}$ GeV ($2 \times10^{5}$ GeV) for the linear (quadratic) energy dependence of Lorentz invariance violation. These limits are rather independent of the neutrino mass hierarchy and whether the neutrino velocity is super or subluminal.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, Revised version. Minor changes. Matches published versio

Extragalactic Sources and Propagation of UHECRs

With the publicly available astrophysical simulation framework for propagating extraterrestrial UHE particles, CRPropa 3, it is now possible to study realistic UHECR source scenarios including deflections in Galactic and extragalactic magnetic fields in an efficient way. Here we discuss three recent studies that have already been done in that direction. The first one investigates what can be expected in the case of maximum allowed intergalactic magnetic fields. Here is shown that, even if voids contain strong magnetic fields, deflections of protons with energies $\gtrsim 60 \; \text{EeV}$ from nearby sources might be small enough to allow for UHECR astronomy. The second study looks into several scenarios with a smaller magnetization focusing on large-scale anisotropies. Here is shown that the local source distribution can have a more significant effect on the large-scale anisotropy than the EGMF model. A significant dipole component could, for instance, be explained by a dominant source within 5 Mpc distance. The third study looks into whether UHECRs can come from local radio galaxies. If this is the case it is difficult to reproduce the observed low level of anisotropy. Therefore is concluded that the magnetic field strength in voids in the EGMF model used here is too low and/or there are additional sources of UHECRs that were not taken into account in these simulations.Comment: UHECR2016 conference proceedin