Eli Waxman

High-energy neutrinos from cosmological gamma-ray burst fireballs

Observations suggest that {gamma}-ray bursts (GRBs) are produced by the dissipation of the kinetic energy of a relativistic fireball. We show that a large fraction, {ge}10{percent}, of the fireball energy is expected to be converted by photomeson production to a burst of {approximately}10{sup 14}eV neutrinos. A km{sup 2} neutrino detector would observe at least several tens of events per year correlated with GRBs, and test for neutrino properties (e.g., flavor oscillations, for which upward moving {tau}{close_quote}s would be a unique signature, and coupling to gravity) with an accuracy many orders of magnitude better than is currently possible. {copyright} {ital 1997} {ital The American Physical Society}

The association of GRB 060218 with a supernova and the evolution of the shock wave.

Although the link between long Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs) and supernovae (SNe) has been established, hitherto there have been no observations of the beginning of a supernova explosion and its intimate link to a GRB. In particular, we do not know however how a GRB jet emerges from the star surface nor how a GRB progenitor explodes. Here we report on observations of the close GRB060218 and its connection to SN2006aj. In addition to the classical non-thermal emission, GRB060218 shows a thermal component in its X-ray spectrum, which cools and shifts into the optical/UV band as time passes. We interpret these features as arising from the break out of a shock driven by a mildly relativistic shell into the dense wind surrounding the progenitor. Our observations allow us for the first time to catch a SN in the act of exploding, to directly observe the shock break-out and to provide strong evidence that the GRB progenitor was a Wolf-Rayet star.Although the link between long γ-ray bursts (GRBs) and supernovae has been established, hitherto there have been no observations of the beginning of a supernova explosion and its intimate link to a GRB. In particular, we do not know how the jet that defines a γ-ray burst emerges from the stars surface, nor how a GRB progenitor explodes. Here we report observations of the relatively nearby GRB 060218 (ref. 5) and its connection to supernova SN 2006aj (ref. 6). In addition to the classical non-thermal emission, GRB 060218 shows a thermal component in its X-ray spectrum, which cools and shifts into the optical/ultraviolet band as time passes. We interpret these features as arising from the break-out of a shock wave driven by a mildly relativistic shell into the dense wind surrounding the progenitor. We have caught a supernova in the act of exploding, directly observing the shock break-out, which indicates that the GRB progenitor was a Wolf–Rayet star.

High-energy neutrinos from astrophysical sources: An Upper bound

We show that cosmic-ray observations set a model-independent upper bound of

Cosmological gamma-ray bursts and the highest energy cosmic rays.

{E}_{\ensuremath{\nu}}^{2}{\ensuremath{\Phi}}_{\ensuremath{\nu}}l2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}8}{\mathrm{G}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{V}/\mathrm{c}\mathrm{m}}^{2}\mathrm{}\mathrm{s}\mathrm{}\mathrm{sr}

An extremely luminous X-ray outburst at the birth of a supernova.

to the intensity of high-energy neutrinos produced by photo-meson (or

Dust Sublimation by Gamma-ray Bursts and Its Implications

p\ensuremath{-}p)

The Luminosity and Angular Distributions of Long‐Duration Gamma‐Ray Bursts

interactions in sources of size not much larger than the proton photo-meson (or

On the Energy of Gamma-Ray Bursts

p\ensuremath{-}p)

Implications of the Radio Afterglow from the Gamma-Ray Burst of 1997 May 8

mean-free-path. This bound applies, in particular, to neutrino production by either AGN jets or GRBs. The upper limit is two orders of magnitude below the intensity predicted in some popular AGN jet models and therefore contradicts the theory that the cosmic gamma-ray background is due to photo-pion interactions in AGN jets. The upper bound is consistent with our predictions from GRB models. The predicted intensity from GRBs is

High energy astrophysical neutrinos: The upper bound is robust

{E}^{2}dN/dE\ensuremath{\sim}0.3\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}8}{\mathrm{G}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{V}/\mathrm{c}\mathrm{m}}^{2}\mathrm{}\mathrm{s}\mathrm{}\mathrm{sr}