TeV Neutrinos from Successful and Choked Gamma-Ray Bursts

Abstract

Core collapse of massive stars resulting in a relativistic fireball jet which breaks through the stellar envelope is a widely discussed scenario for gamma-ray burst production. For very extended or slow rotating stars, the fireball may be unable to break through the envelope. Both penetrating and choked jets will produce, by photo-meson interactions of accelerated protons, a burst of neutrinos with energies in excess of 5 TeV while propagating in the envelope. The predicted flux, from both penetrating and chocked fireballs, should be easily detectable by planned cubic kilometer neutrino telescopes.

Comments: Phys.Rev.Letters, in press, final version accepted 8/31/01 (orig. 3/17/01)