Speaker
Description
Common-envelope evolution – where a compact object like a neutron star or black hole is engulfed by a companion - is a critical but poorly understood step in, e.g., the formation pathways for gravitational-wave sources. However, it has been extremely challenging to identify observable signatures of such systems. We show that the hypothesized super-Eddington accretion during a common-envelope event produces MeV-range, months-long neutrino signals within reach of present and planned detectors. While there are substantial uncertainties on the rate of such events (0.01-1/century in the Milky Way) and the neutrino luminosity (which may be less than the accretion power), a search for such a signal in archival or upcoming data would probe super-Eddington accretion, leading to significant new insights into the astrophysics of common-envelope evolution and thereby answering long-standing open questions in astrophysics.