Production of high-energy μ neutrinos from young neutron stars
✍ Scribed by G.F. Burgio; B. Link
- Publisher
- Elsevier Science
- Year
- 2007
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 343 KB
- Volume
- 165
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0920-5632
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✦ Synopsis
Young, rapidly rotating neutron stars could accelerate protons to energies of ∼ 1 PeV close to the stellar surface, which scatter with x-rays from the stellar surface through the Δ resonance and produce pions. The pions subsequently decay to produce muon neutrinos. We find that the energy spectrum of muon neutrinos consists of a sharp rise at ∼ 50 TeV, corresponding to the onset of the resonance, above which the flux drops as -2 ν up to an upper-energy cut-off that is determined by either kinematics or by the maximum energy to which protons are accelerated. We predict event rates as high as 10-50 km -2 yr -1 from relatively young, close neutron stars. Such fluxes would be detectable by IceCube.