Gamma ray bursts are high-energy events generally associated with supernova explosions in other galaxies. Though it is possible to study these events via the gamma photons that arrive here on Earth, energetic neutrinos are better suited to probe the optically-thick afterglow of gamma ray bursts and provide a more detailed description of the processes involved. This paper delves into the details of studying these neutrinos.
Several weeks ago, the OPERA experiment announced that they had measured neutrinos travelling faster than the speed of light. The neutrinos, which traveled from CERN to the Gran Sasso Laboratory, arrived at the detector 60 nanoseconds earlier than light (with statistical errors of 6.9 ns and systematic errors of 7.4 ns).
Ultra-high energy cosmic rays may be produced via shock acceleration. This paper presents theoretical upper limits on the energies of the cosmic rays that can be produced in this way, providing a means of testing this theory.