High-energy neutrinos from fast winds in novae

Abstract

ABSTRACT We discuss a scenario in which TeV neutrinos are produced during explosions of novae. It is argued that hadrons are accelerated to very high energies in the inner part of a nova wind, as a result of reconnection of the strong magnetic field of a white dwarf. Hadrons are expected to interact efficiently with a dense matter of the wind, either already during the acceleration process or during their advection with the equatorial wind. We calculate the neutrino spectra and estimate the muon neutrino event rates in the IceCube telescope, in the case of a few novae. In general, those event rates are unlikely to be detected with the present neutrino detectors. However, for a favourable location of the observer, some neutrino events might be detected not only from the class of novae recently detected in the GeV γ-rays by the Fermi-LAT (Large Area Telescope), but also from novae not detected in γ-rays. The GeV γ-ray emission observed from novae cannot originate in terms of the model discussed here, since protons are accelerated within a few stellar radii of the white dwarf, i.e. in the region in which GeV γ-rays are expected to be severely absorbed in the interactions with the radiation field and the matter of the wind.