High energy neutrinos from gamma ray bursts: Event rates in neutrino telescopes

Abstract

Following Waxman and Bahcall we calculate the event rate, energy and zenith angle dependence of neutrinos produced in the fireball model of gamma ray bursts (GRB). We emphasize the primary importance of (i) burst-to-burst fluctuations and (ii) absorption of the neutrinos in the Earth. From the astronomical point of view, we draw attention to the sensitivity of neutrino measurements to the boost Lorentz factor of the fireball \ensuremath{\Gamma}, which is central to the fireball model, and only indirectly determined by follow-up observations. Fluctuations result in single bursts emitting multiple neutrinos, making it possible to determine the flavor composition of a beam observed after a baseline of thousands of megaparsecs.