High-energy neutrinos in the context of multimessenger astrophysics

Abstract

The field of astroparticle physics is currently developing rapidly, since new experiments challenge our understanding of processes that have been investigated. Three messengers can be used to extract information on the properties of astrophysical sources: photons, charged Cosmic Rays and neutrinos. This review focuses on high-energy neutrinos ( E ν > 100 GeV ) with the main topics as follows. • The production mechanism of high-energy neutrinos in astrophysical shocks. The connection between the observed photon spectra and charged Cosmic Rays is described and the source properties as they are known from photon observations and from charged Cosmic Rays are presented. • High-energy neutrino detection. Current detection methods are described and the status of the next generation neutrino telescopes are reviewed. In particular, water and ice Cherenkov detectors as well as radio measurements in ice and with balloon experiments are presented. In addition, future perspectives for optical, radio and acoustic detection of neutrinos are reviewed. • Sources of neutrino emission. The main source classes are reviewed, i.e. galactic sources, Active Galactic Nuclei, starburst galaxies and Gamma Ray Bursts. The interaction of high energy protons with the cosmic microwave background implies the production of neutrinos, referred to as GZK neutrinos. • Implications of neutrino flux limits. Recent limits given by the AMANDA experiment and their implications regarding the physics of the sources are presented.