Is the High-energy Neutrino Event IceCube-200530A Associated with a Hydrogen-rich Superluminous Supernova?

Abstract

The Zwicky Transient Facility follow-up campaign of alerts released by the IceCube Neutrino Observatory has led to the likely identification of the transient AT2019fdr as the source of the neutrino event IC200530A. AT2019fdr was initially suggested to be a tidal disruption event in a Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 galaxy. However, the combination of its spectral properties, color evolution, and feature-rich light curve suggests that AT2019fdr may be a Type IIn superluminous supernova. In the latter scenario, IC200530A may have been produced via inelastic proton-proton collisions between the relativistic protons accelerated at the forward shock and the cold protons of the circumstellar medium. Here, we investigate this possibility and find that at most 4.6 × 10−2 muon neutrino and antineutrino events are expected to be detected by the IceCube Neutrino Observatory within 394 days of discovery in the case of excellent discrimination of the atmospheric background. After correcting for the Eddington bias, which occurs when a single cosmic neutrino event is adopted to infer the neutrino emission at the source, we conclude that IC200530A may originate from the hydrogen-rich superluminous supernova AT2019fdr.