MeV Neutrinos Research Articles

Contribution of Neutrino-dominated Accretion Flows to the Cosmic MeV Neutrino Background

Neutrino-dominated accretion flows (NDAFs) are one of the important MeV neutrino sources and significantly contribute to the cosmic diffuse neutrino background. In this paper, we investigate the spectrum of the diffuse NDAF neutrino background (DNNB) by fully considering the effects of the progenitor properties and initial explosion energies based on core-collapse supernova (CCSN) simulations, and estimate the detectable event rate by the Super-Kamiokande detector. We find that the predicted background neutrino flux is mainly determined by the typical CCSN initial explosion energy and progenitor metallicity. For the optimistic cases, in which the typical initial explosion energy is low, the diffuse flux of the DNNB is comparable to the diffuse supernova neutrino background, which might be detected by upcoming larger neutrino detectors, such as Hyper-Kamiokande, the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory, and the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment. Moreover, the strong outflows from NDAFs could dramatically decrease their contribution to the neutrino background.

Oscillations of high-energy cosmic neutrinos in the copious MeV neutrino background

The core-collapse of massive stars and the merger of neutron star binaries are among the most promising candidate sites for the production of high-energy cosmic neutrinos. We demonstrate that the high-energy neutrinos produced in such extreme environments can experience efficient flavor conversions on scales much shorter than those expected in vacuum, due to their coherent forward scatterings with the bath of decohered low-energy neutrinos emitted from the central engine. These low-energy neutrinos, which exist as mass eigenstates, provide a very special and peculiar dominant background for the propagation of the high-energy ones. We point out that the high-energy neutrino flavor ratio is modified to a value independent of neutrinos energies, which is distinct from the conventional prediction with the matter effect. We also suggest that the signals can be used as a novel probe of new neutrino interactions beyond the Standard Model. This is yet another context where neutrino-neutrino interactions can play a crucial role in their flavor evolution. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Search for Galactic Core-collapse Supernovae in a Decade of Data Taken with the IceCube Neutrino Observatory

The IceCube Neutrino Observatory has been continuously taking data to search for O(0.5–10) s long neutrino bursts since 2007. Even if a Galactic core-collapse supernova is optically obscured or collapses to a black hole instead of exploding, it will be detectable via the O(10) MeV neutrino burst emitted during the collapse. We discuss a search for such events covering the time between 2008 April 17 and 2019 December 31. Considering the average data taking and analysis uptime of 91.7% after all selection cuts, this is equivalent to 10.735 yr of continuous data taking. In order to test the most conservative neutrino production scenario, the selection cuts were optimized for a model based on an 8.8 solar mass progenitor collapsing to an O–Ne–Mg core. Conservative assumptions on the effects of neutrino oscillations in the exploding star were made. The final selection cut was set to ensure that the probability to detect such a supernova within the Milky Way exceeds 99%. No such neutrino burst was found in the data after performing a blind analysis. Hence, a 90% C.L. upper limit on the rate of core-collapse supernovae out to distances of ≈25 kpc was determined to be 0.23 yr−1. For the more distant Magellanic Clouds, only high neutrino luminosity supernovae will be detectable by IceCube, unless external information on the burst time is available. We determined a model-independent limit by parameterizing the dependence on the neutrino luminosity and the energy spectrum.

Detecting High-energy Neutrino Minibursts from Local Supernovae with Multiple Neutrino Observatories

Growing evidence from multiwavelength observations of extragalactic supernovae (SNe) has established the presence of dense circumstellar material in Type II SNe. Interaction between the SN ejecta and the circumstellar material should lead to diffusive shock acceleration of cosmic rays and associated high-energy emission. Observation of high-energy neutrinos along with the MeV neutrinos from SNe will provide unprecedented opportunities to understand unanswered questions in cosmic-ray and neutrino physics. We show that current and future neutrino detectors can identify high-energy neutrinos from an extragalactic SN in the neighborhood of the Milky Way. We present the prospects for detecting high-energy neutrino minibursts from SNe in known local galaxies, and demonstrate how the network of multiple high-energy neutrino detectors will extend the horizon for the identification of high-energy SN neutrinos. We also discuss high-energy neutrino emission from SN 2023ixf.

Borexino’s search for low-energy neutrinos associated with gravitational wave events from GWTC-3 database

The search for neutrino events in correlation with gravitational wave (GW) events for three observing runs (O1, O2 and O3) from 09/2015 to 03/2020 has been performed using the Borexino data-set of the same period. We have searched for signals of neutrino-electron scattering and inverse beta-decay (IBD) within a time window of pm , 1000 s centered at the detection moment of a particular GW event. The search was done with three visible energy thresholds of 0.25, 0.8 and 3.0 MeV. Two types of incoming neutrino spectra were considered: the mono-energetic line and the supernova-like spectrum. GW candidates originated by merging binaries of black holes (BHBH), neutron stars (NSNS) and neutron star and black hole (NSBH) were analyzed separately. Additionally, the subset of most intensive BHBH mergers at closer distances and with larger radiative mass than the rest was considered. In total, follow-ups of 74 out of 93 gravitational waves reported in the GWTC-3 catalog were analyzed and no statistically significant excess over the background was observed. As a result, the strongest upper limits on GW-associated neutrino and antineutrino fluences for all flavors (nu _e, nu _mu , nu _tau ) at the level 10^9{-}10^{15}~textrm{cm}^{-2},textrm{GW}^{-1} have been obtained in the 0.5–5 MeV neutrino energy range.

Bright X-ray pulsars as sources of MeV neutrinos in the sky

ABSTRACT High-mass accretion rate on to strongly magnetized neutron stars results in the appearance of accretion columns supported by the radiation pressure and confined by the strong magnetic field of a star. At mass accretion rates above $\sim 10^{19}\, {\rm g\, s^{-1}}$ , accretion columns are expected to be advective. Under such conditions, a noticeable part of the total energy release can be carried away by neutrinos of a MeV energy range. Relying on a simple model of the neutrino luminosity of accreting strongly magnetized neutron stars, we estimate the neutrino energy fluxes expected from six ULX pulsars known up to date and three brightest Be X-ray transits hosting magnetized neutron stars. Despite the large neutrino luminosity expected in ULX pulsars, the neutrino energy flux from the Be X-ray transients of our Galaxy, Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), and Large Magellanic Cloud is dominant. However, the neutrino flux from the brightest X-ray transients is estimated to be below the isotropic background by two orders of magnitude at least, which makes impossible direct registration of neutrino emission from accreting strongly magnetized neutron stars nowadays.

Time-delayed neutrino emission from supernovae as a probe of dark matter-neutrino interactions

Thermal MeV neutrino emission from core-collapse supernovae offers a unique opportunity to probe physics beyond the Standard Model in the neutrino sector. The next generation of neutrino experiments, such as DUNE and Hyper-Kamiokande, can detect \U0001d4aa(103) and \U0001d4aa(104) neutrinos in the event of a Galactic supernova, respectively. As supernova neutrinos propagate to Earth, they may interact with the local dark matter via hidden mediators and may be delayed with respect to the initial neutrino signal. We show that for sub-MeV dark matter, the presence of dark matter-neutrino interactions may lead to neutrino echoes with significant time delays. The absence or presence of this feature in the light curve of MeV neutrinos from a supernova allows us to probe parameter space that has not been explored by dark matter direct detection experiments.

MeV, GeV and TeV Neutrinos from Binary-Driven Hypernovae

We analyze neutrino emission channels in energetic (≳1052 erg) long gamma-ray bursts within the binary-driven hypernova model. The binary-driven hypernova progenitor is a binary system composed of a carbon-oxygen star and a neutron star (NS) companion. The gravitational collapse leads to a type Ic supernova (SN) explosion and triggers an accretion process onto the NS. For orbital periods of a few minutes, the NS reaches the critical mass and forms a black hole (BH). Two physical situations produce MeV neutrinos. First, during the accretion, the NS surface emits neutrino–antineutrino pairs by thermal production. We calculate the properties of such a neutrino emission, including flavor evolution. Second, if the angular momentum of the SN ejecta is high enough, an accretion disk might form around the BH. The disk’s high density and temperature are ideal for MeV-neutrino production. We estimate the flavor evolution of electron and non-electron neutrinos and find that neutrino oscillation inside the disk leads to flavor equipartition. This effect reduces (compared to assuming frozen flavor content) the energy deposition rate of neutrino–antineutrino annihilation into electron–positron (e+e−) pairs in the BH vicinity. We then analyze the production of GeV-TeV neutrinos around the newborn black hole. The magnetic field surrounding the BH interacts with the BH gravitomagnetic field producing an electric field that leads to spontaneous e+e− pairs by vacuum breakdown. The e+e− plasma self-accelerates due to its internal pressure and engulfs protons during the expansion. The hadronic interaction of the protons in the expanding plasma with the ambient protons leads to neutrino emission via the decay chain of π-meson and μ-lepton, around and far from the black hole, along different directions. These neutrinos have energies in the GeV-TeV regime, and we calculate their spectrum and luminosity. We also outline the detection probability by some current and future neutrino detectors.

Monoenergetic neutrinos from WIMP annihilation in Jupiter

Weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) can be captured by the Sun and annihilate in the core, which may result in production of kaons that can decay at rest into monoenergetic 236 MeV neutrinos. Several studies of detection of these neutrinos at DUNE have been carried out. It has been shown that if the WIMP mass is below 4 GeV, then they will evaporate prior to annihilation, suppressing the signal. Since Jupiter has a cooler core, WIMPs with masses in the 1--4 GeV range will not evaporate and can thus annihilate into kaons which decay at rest into monoenergetic neutrinos. We calculate the flux of these neutrinos near the surface of Jupiter and find that it is comparable to the flux of neutrinos from the Sun at DUNE for masses above 4 GeV and substantially greater in the 1--4 GeV range. Of course, detecting these neutrinos would require a neutrino detector near Jupiter. Obviously, it will be many decades before such a detector can be built, but should direct detection experiments find a WIMP with a mass in the 1--4 GeV range, it may be one of the few ways to learn about the annihilation process. A liquid hydrogen time projection chamber might be able to get precise directional information and energy of these neutrinos (and hydrogen is plentiful in the vicinity of Jupiter). We speculate that such a detector could be placed on the far side of one of the tidally locked Amalthean moons; the moon itself would provide substantial background shielding and the surface would allow easier deployment of solar panels for power generation.

Effects of Vertical Advection on Multimessenger Signatures of Black Hole Neutrino-dominated Accretion Flows in Compact Binary Coalescences

In the coalescence events of binary neutron star (NS) or a black hole (BH) and an NS, a BH hyperaccretion disk might be eventually formed. At very high mass accretion rates, MeV neutrinos will be emitted from this disk, which is called a neutrino-dominated accretion flow (NDAF). Neutrino annihilation in the space out of the disk is energetic enough to launch ultrarelativistic jets to power gamma-ray bursts. Moreover, vertical advection might exist in NDAFs, which can generate the magnetic buoyancy bubbles to release gamma-ray photons. In this paper, we visit the effects of the vertical advection in NDAFs on the disk structure and gamma-ray and neutrino luminosities for different accretion rates. Then we study the anisotropic emission of kilonovae and the following gravitational waves (GWs) driven by the gamma-ray photons and neutrinos from NDAFs. Comparing NDAFs without vertical advection, the neutrino luminosity and GW strains slightly decrease for the case with vertical advection, and the kilonovae will be brightened by the injected gamma-ray photons. The future joint multimessenger observations might distinguish whether the vertical advection exists in NDAFs or not after compact binary coalescences.

Black Hole Hyperaccretion in Collapsars: A Review

The collapsar model is widely accepted as one of the standard scenarios for gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). In the massive collapsar scenario, the core will collapse to a black hole (BH) surrounded by a temporary hyperaccretion disk with a very high accretion rate. The newborn BH hyperaccretion system would launch the relativistic jets via neutrino annihilation and Blandford-Znajek (BZ) mechanism. At the initial accretion stage, the accretion disk should be a neutrino-dominated accretion flow (NDAF). If the jets can break out from the envelope and circumstellar medium, then a GRB will be triggered. In this review, we summarize the theoretical progress on the multimessenger astronomy of the BH hyperaccretion in the center of collapsars. The main topics include: jet propagation in collapsar, MeV neutrinos from NDAFs and proto-neutron stars, gravitational waves from collapsars.

Search for low-energy signals from fast radio bursts with the Borexino detector

The search for neutrino events in correlation with 42 most intense fast radio bursts (FRBs) has been performed using the Borexino dataset from 05/2007 to 06/2021. We have searched for signals with visible energies above 250 keV within a time window of pm , 1000 s corresponding to detection time of a particular FRB. We also applied an alternative approach based on searching for specific shapes of neutrino-electron scattering spectra in the full exposure data of the Borexino detector. In particular, two incoming neutrino spectra were considered: the monoenergetic line and the spectrum expected from supernovae. The same spectra were considered for electron antineutrinos detected through inverse beta-decay reaction. No statistically significant excess over the background was observed. As a result, the strongest upper limits on FRB-associated neutrino fluences of all flavors have been obtained in the 0.5–50 MeV neutrino energy range.

Anisotropic Multimessenger Signals from Black Hole Neutrino-dominated Accretion Flows with Outflows in Binary Compact Object Mergers

Abstract A black hole (BH) hyperaccretion system might be born after the merger of a BH and a neutron star (NS) or a binary NS (BNS). In the case of a high mass accretion rate, the hyperaccretion disk is in a state of neutrino-dominated accretion flow (NDAF) and emits numerous anisotropic MeV neutrinos. Only a small fraction of these neutrinos annihilates in the space outside of the disk and then launches ultrarelativistic jets that break away from the merger ejecta to power gamma-ray bursts. Mergers and their remnants are generally considered sources of gravitational waves (GWs), neutrinos, and kilonovae. Anisotropic neutrino emission and anisotropic high-velocity material outflows from central BH–NDAF systems can also trigger strong GWs and luminous disk-outflow-driven (DOD) kilonovae, respectively. In this paper, the anisotropic multimessenger signals from NDAFs with outflows, including DOD kilonovae, MeV neutrinos, and GWs, are presented. According to the results, the typical AB magnitude of the DOD kilonovae is lower than that of astronomical transient AT 2017gfo at the same distance, and it decreases with increasing viewing angles and its anisotropy is not sensitive to the outflow mass distribution but mainly determined by the velocity distribution. Since neutrinos with ≳10 MeV are mainly produced in the inner region of the disk, they will be dramatically deflected to a large viewing angle by relativity effects. Moreover, the strains of GWs induced by anisotropic neutrinos increase with increasing viewing angles. The accumulation of multimessenger detection of the BNS/BH–NS mergers with different viewing angles might further verify the existence of NDAFs with outflows.

Sensitivity of multi-PMT optical modules in Antarctic ice to supernova neutrinos of MeV energy

New optical sensors with a segmented photosensitive area are being developed for the next generation of neutrino telescopes at the South Pole. In addition to increasing sensitivity to high-energy astrophysical neutrinos, we show that this will also lead to a significant improvement in sensitivity to MeV neutrinos, such as those produced in core-collapse supernovae (CCSN). These low-energy neutrinos can provide a detailed picture of the events after stellar core collapse, testing our understanding of these violent explosions. We present studies on the event-based detection of MeV neutrinos with a segmented sensor and, for the first time, the potential of a corresponding detector in the deep ice at the South Pole for the detection of extra-galactic CCSN. We find that exploiting temporal coincidences between signals in different photocathode segments, a 27 mathrm {M}_{odot } progenitor mass CCSN can be detected up to a distance of 341 kpc with a false detection rate of {0.01},hbox {year}^{-1} with a detector consisting of 10,000 sensors. Increasing the number of sensors to 20,000 and reducing the optical background by a factor of 70 expands the range such that a CCSN detection rate of 0.1 per year is achieved, while keeping the false detection rate at {0.01},{hbox {year}^{-1}}.

Signatures of primordial black hole dark matter at DUNE and THEIA

Primordial black holes (PBHs) are a potential dark matter candidate whose masses can span over many orders of magnitude. If their masses lie in the 1015 — 1017 g range, they can emit sizeable fluxes of MeV neutrinos through evaporation via Hawking radiation. We investigate the possibility of detecting light (non-)rotating PBHs with future neutrino experiments DUNE and THEIA. We show that these next-generation facilities will be able to set competitive constraints on PBH dark matter, providing complementary probes in a part of the PBH parameter space currently constrained mainly by photon data.

Signatures of primordial black hole dark matter at DUNE and THEIA

Primordial black holes (PBHs) are a potential dark matter candidate whose masses can span over many orders of magnitude. If they have masses in the 1015–1017 g range, they can emit sizeable fluxes of MeV neutrinos through evaporation via Hawking radiation. We explore the possibility of detecting light (non-)rotating PBHs with future neutrino experiments. We focus on two next generation facilities: the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) and THEIA. We simulate the expected event spectra at both experiments assuming different PBH mass distributions and spins, and we extract the expected 95% C.L. sensitivities to these scenarios. Our analysis shows that future neutrino experiments like DUNE and THEIA will be able to set competitive constraints on PBH dark matter, thus providing complementary probes in a part of the PBH parameter space currently constrained mainly by photon data.

Anisotropic neutrinos and gravitational waves from black hole neutrino-dominated accretion flows in fallback core-collapse supernovae

ABSTRACT Fallback in core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe) plays an important role in determining the properties of the central compact remnants, which might produce a black hole (BH) hyperaccretion system in the centre of a massive CCSN. When the accretion rate is extremely high and neutrino cooling is dominant, the hyperaccretion should be in the phase of the neutrino-dominated accretion flows (NDAFs), and thus a large number of anisotropic MeV neutrinos will be launched from the disc along with the strong gravitational waves (GWs). In this paper, we perform a series of one-dimensional CCSN simulations with the initial explosion energy in the range of 2−8 B (1 B = 1051 erg) to investigate the fallback processes. By considering the evolution of the central BH mass and spin in the fallback accretion, we present the effects of the initial explosion energies, masses, and metallicities of the massive progenitor stars on the spectra of anisotropic MeV neutrinos and the waveform of GWs from NDAFs. These neutrino or GW signals might be detected by operational or future detectors, and the multimessenger joint detections could constrain the properties of CCSNe and progenitor stars.

Search for tens of MeV neutrinos associated with gamma-ray bursts in Super-Kamiokande

Abstract A search for neutrinos produced in coincidence with gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) was conducted with the Super-Kamiokande (SK) detector. Between December 2008 and March 2017, the Gamma-ray Coordinates Network recorded 2208 GRBs that occurred during normal SK operation. Several time windows around each GRB were used to search for coincident neutrino events. No statistically significant signal in excess of the estimated backgrounds was detected. The $\bar\nu_e$ fluence in the range from 8 MeV to 100 MeV in positron total energy for $\bar\nu_e+p\rightarrow e^{+}+n$ was found to be less than $\rm 5.07\times10^5$ cm$^{-2}$ per GRB at a 90% confidence level. For all GRBs, upper bounds were obtained on the fluence as a function of neutrino energy. Additionally, for GRBs at known distances, upper limits were set for the neutrino energy emission at the GRB.

Modeling quasielastic interactions of monoenergetic kaon decay-at-rest neutrinos

Monoenergetic muon neutrinos at 236 MeV are readily produced in intense medium-energy proton facilities ($\gtrsim$2-3~GeV) when a positive kaon decays at rest (KDAR; $K^+ \rightarrow \mu^+ \nu_\mu$). These neutrinos provide a unique opportunity to both study the neutrino interaction and probe the nucleus with a monoenergetic weak-interaction-only tool. We present cross section calculations for quasielastic scattering of these 236~MeV neutrinos off $^{12}$C and $^{40}$Ar, paying special attention to low-energy aspects of the scattering process. Our model takes the description of the nucleus in a mean-field (MF) approach as the starting point, where we solve Hartree-Fock (HF) equations using a Skyrme type nucleon-nucleon interaction. Thereby, we introduce long-range nuclear correlations by means of a continuum random phase approximation (CRPA) framework where we solve the CRPA equations using a Green's function method. The model successfully describes ($e,e'$) data on $^{12}$C and $^{40}$Ca in the kinematic region that overlaps with the KDAR $\nu_\mu$ phase space. In addition to these results, we present future prospects for precision KDAR cross section measurements and applications of our calculations in current and future experiments that will utilize these neutrinos.

5 Reasons to Expect an 8 MeV Line in the SN 1987A Neutrino Spectrum

Evidence was previously reported for an 8 MeV neutrino line associated with SN 1987A based on an analysis of 997 events recorded in the Kamiokande-II detector on the day of the supernova. That claimed line, however, occurred at the peak of the background spectrum, and both had a similar shape, making the claim tenuous at best. Here the claim is buttressed by providing five reasons to expect such an 8 MeV neutrino line. A final section of the paper concerns the ongoing KATRIN experiment to find the neutrino mass, which might provide additional support for the line, should it validate a controversial 3 + 3 model of theneutrino masses, including a tachyonic \((m^2 < 0)\) mass.