PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

Eli Waxman

Publications and source records attributed to Eli Waxman.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2007

Neutrino astrophysics: a new tool for exploring the universe.

In the past four decades a new type of astronomy has emerged, where instead of looking up into the sky, "telescopes" are buried miles underground or deep under water or ice and search not for photons (that is, light), but rather for particles called neutrinos. Neutrinos are nearly massless particles that interact very weakly with matter. The detection of neutrinos emitted by the Sun and by a nearby supernova provided direct tests of the theory of stellar evolution and led to modifications of the standard model describing the properties of elementary particles. At present, several very large neutrino detectors are being constructed, aiming at the detection of the most powerful sources of energy and particles in the universe. The hope is that the detection of neutrinos from these sources, which are extra-Galactic and are most likely powered by mass accretion onto black holes, will not only allow study of the sources, but, much like solar neutrinos, will also provide new information about fundamental properties of matter.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2005

Astrophysical neutrinos: flavor ratios depend on energy.

Electromagnetic (and adiabatic) energy losses of pi's and mu's modify the flavor ratio (measured at Earth) of neutrinos produced by pi decay in astrophysical sources, Phi v: phi v mu: phi v tau, from 1:1:1 at low energy to 1:1.8:1.8 at high energy. The transition occurs over 1-2 decades of v energy, and is correlated with a modification of the neutrino spectrum. For gamma-ray bursts, e.g., the transition is expected at approximately 100 TeV and may be detected by km-scale v telescopes. Measurements of the transition energy and energy width will provide unique probes of the physics of the sources. Pi and mu energy losses also affect the ratio of ve flux to total v flux, which may be measured at the resonance (6.3 PeV): It is modified from 1/6(1/15) at low energy to 1/9 (practically 0) at high energy for neutrinos produced in p p (p gamma) interactions.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2005

Energy spectrum of particles accelerated in relativistic collisionless shocks.

We analytically study diffusive particle acceleration in relativistic, collisionless shocks. We find a simple relation between the spectral index s and the anisotropy of the momentum distribution along the shock front. Based on this relation, we obtain s=(3beta(u)-2beta(u)beta(2)(d)+beta(3)(d))/(beta(u)-beta(d)) for isotropic diffusion, where beta(u) (beta(d)) is the upstream (downstream) fluid velocity normalized to the speed of light. This result is in agreement with previous numerical determinations of s for all (beta(u),beta(d)), and yields s=38/9 in the ultrarelativistic limit. The spectrum-anisotropy connection is useful for testing numerical studies and constraining anisotropic diffusion results. It suggests that the spectrum is highly sensitive to the form of the diffusion function for particles traveling along the shock front.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2004

TeV neutrinos from core collapse supernovae and hypernovae.

A fraction of core-collapse supernovae of type Ib/c are associated with gamma-ray bursts, which are thought to produce highly relativistic jets. Recently, it has been hypothesized that a larger fraction of core-collapse supernovae produce slower jets, which may contribute to the disruption and ejection of the supernova envelope, and explain the unusually energetic hypernovae. We explore the TeV neutrino signatures expected from such slower jets, and calculate the expected detection rates with upcoming Gigaton Cherenkov experiments. We conclude that individual jetted supernovae may be detectable from nearby galaxies.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2003

High energy neutrinos from gamma-ray bursts with precursor supernovae.

The high energy neutrino signature from proton-proton and photo-meson interactions in a supernova remnant shell ejected prior to a gamma-ray burst provides a test for the precursor supernova, or supranova, model of gamma-ray bursts. Protons in the supernova remnant shell and photons entrapped from a supernova explosion or a pulsar wind from a fast-rotating neutron star remnant provide ample targets for protons escaping the internal shocks of the gamma-ray burst to interact and produce high energy neutrinos. We calculate the expected neutrino fluxes, which can be detected by current and future experiments.

Journal Article↗