Neutrino Afterglows and Progenitors of Gamma-Ray Bursts

Abstract

Currently popular models for progenitors of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are the mergers of compact objects and the explosions of massive stars. These two cases have distinctive environments for GRBs: compact object mergers occur in the interstellar medium (ISM) and the explosions of massive stars occur in the preburst stellar wind. We here discuss neutrino afterglows from reverse shocks as a result of the interaction of relativistic fireballs with their surrounding wind matter. After comparing with the analytical result of Waxman & Bahcall (2000) for the homogeneous ISM case, we find that the differential spectrum of neutrinos with energy from $\sim 3\times 10^{15}$ to $\sim 3\times 10^{17}$ eV in the wind case is softer by one power of the energy than in the ISM case. Furthermore, the expected flux of upward moving muons produced by neutrino interactions below a detector on the surface of the Earth in the wind case is $\sim 5$ events per year per km$^2$, which is about one order of magnitude larger than in the ISM case. In addition, these properties are independent of whether the fireballs are isotropic or beamed. Therefore, neutrino afterglows, if detected, may provide a way of distinguishing between GRB progenitor models based on the differential spectra of neutrinos and their event rates in a detector.