Probing the tidal disruption flares of massive black holes with high-energy neutrinos

Abstract

The recently discovered high-energy transient Swift J164449.3+573451 (Sw J1644+57) is thought to arise from the tidal disruption of a passing star by a dormant massive black hole. Modeling of the broadband emission suggests the presence of a powerful relativistic jet, which contributes dominantly to the observed x-ray emission. Here we suggest that protons can be accelerated to ultrahigh energies by internal shocks occurring in the jets, but their flux is insufficient to account for the observed flux of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays. High-energy protons can produce ∼0.1-10PeV neutrinos through photomeson interactions with x-ray photons. The large x-ray fluence (7×10 -4ergcm -2) and high photopion efficiency, together with the insignificant cooling of secondary mesons, result in bright neutrino emission expected from Sw J1644+57 if the jet composition is matter-dominated. One to several neutrinos may be detected by a Km3-scale detector from one tidal disruption event similar to Sw J1644+57, thereby providing a powerful probe of the composition of the jets. © 2011 American Physical Society.