Subphotospheric neutrinos from gamma-ray bursts: the role of neutrons.

Relativistic outflows with neutrons inevitably lead to inelastic collisions, and resulting subphotospheric γ rays may explain prompt emission of γ-ray bursts. In this model, hadronuclear, quasithermal neutrinos in the 10-100 GeV range should be generated, and they may even have a high-energy tail by neutron-proton-converter or shock acceleration mechanisms. We demonstrate the importance of dedicated searches with DeepCore+IceCube, though such analyses have not been performed. Successful detections enable us to discriminate among prompt emission mechanisms, probe the jet composition, and see roles of relativistic neutrons as well as effects of cosmic-ray acceleration.

Neutron-proton-converter acceleration mechanism at subphotospheres of relativistic outflows.

We study a type of particle acceleration that operates via neutron-proton conversion in inelastic nuclear collisions. This mechanism can be expected for relativistic shocks at subphotospheres if relativistic outflows contain neutrons. Using a test-particle approximation, we numerically calculate the energy spectrum and the efficiency of accelerated particles, and show that a good energy fraction of the nucleons can be accelerated. This mechanism may be especially relevant if the shock is radiation mediated, and it would enhance the detectability of GeV-TeV neutrinos.