CERN Accelerating science

Preprint
Report number	arXiv:2310.19868
Title	Detectable MeV Neutrino Signals from Neutron-Star Common-Envelope Systems
Author(s)	Esteban, Ivan (Basque U., Bilbao ; Ohio State U., CCAPP ; Ohio State U. ; Ohio State U., Dept. Astron.) ; Beacom, John F. (Ohio State U., CCAPP ; Ohio State U. ; Ohio State U., Dept. Astron.) ; Kopp, Joachim (CERN ; Mainz U., Inst. Phys. ; U. Mainz, PRISMA)
Imprint	2023-10-30
Number of pages	21
Note	5 pages, 4 figures + Appendices. Comments are welcome
Subject category	hep-ph ; Particle Physics - Phenomenology ; hep-ex ; Particle Physics - Experiment ; astro-ph.HE ; Astrophysics and Astronomy
Abstract	Common-envelope evolution - where a star is engulfed by a companion - is a critical but poorly understood step in, e.g., the formation pathways for gravitational-wave sources. However, it has been extremely challenging to identify observable signatures of such systems. We show that for systems involving a neutron star, the hypothesized super-Eddington accretion onto the neutron star produces MeV-range, months-long neutrino signals within reach of present and planned detectors. While there are substantial uncertainties on the rate of such events (0.01-1/century in the Milky Way) and the neutrino luminosity (which may be less than the accretion power), this signal can only be found if dedicated new searches are developed. If detected, the neutrino signal would lead to significant new insights into the astrophysics of common-envelope evolution.
Other source	Inspire
Copyright/License	preprint: (License: arXiv nonexclusive-distrib 1.0)