Neutrino signatures from the first stars

Frédéric Daigne, Keith A. Olive, Pearl Sandick, and Elisabeth Vangioni
Phys. Rev. D 72, 103007 – Published 28 November 2005

Abstract

Evidence from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) polarization data indicates that the Universe may have been reionized at very high redshift. It is often suggested that the ionizing UV flux originates from an early population of massive or very massive stars. Depending on their mass, such stars can explode either as type II supernovae or pair-instability supernovae, or may entirely collapse into a black hole. The resulting neutrino emission can be quite different in each case. We consider here the relic neutrino background produced by an early burst of Population III stars coupled with a normal mode of star formation at lower redshift. The computation is performed in the framework of hierarchical structure formation and is based on cosmic star formation histories constrained to reproduce the observed star formation rate at redshift z6, the observed chemical abundances in damped Lyman alpha absorbers and in the intergalactic medium, and to allow for an early reionization of the Universe at z1020. We find that although the high redshift burst of Population III stars does lead to an appreciable flux of neutrinos at relatively low energy (Eν1MeV), the observable neutrino flux is dominated by the normal mode of star formation. We also find that predicted fluxes are at the present level of the SuperK limit. As a consequence, the supernova relic neutrino background has a direct impact on models of chemical evolution and/or supernova dynamics.

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  • Received 20 September 2005

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.72.103007

©2005 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Frédéric Daigne1, Keith A. Olive2, Pearl Sandick3, and Elisabeth Vangioni1

  • 1Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris, UMR 7095, CNRS, Université Pierre et Marie Curie-Paris VI, 98 bis bd Arago, F-75014, Paris, France
  • 2William I. Fine Theoretical Physics Institute, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455 USA
  • 3Department of Physics, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455 USA

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Issue

Vol. 72, Iss. 10 — 15 November 2005

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