%0 Journal Article
%T Firewall Phenomenology with Astrophysical Neutrinos
%A Niayesh Afshordi
%A Yasaman K. Yazdi
%J Physics
%D 2015
%I arXiv
%X One of the most fundamental features of a black hole in general relativity is its event horizon: a boundary from which nothing can escape. There has been a recent surge of interest in the nature of these event horizons and their local neighbourhoods. In an attempt to resolve black hole information paradox(es), and more generally, to better understand the path towards quantum gravity, firewalls have been proposed as an alternative to black hole event horizons. In this letter, we explore the phenomenological implications of black holes possessing a surface or firewall. We predict a potentially detectable signature of these firewalls in the form of a high energy astrophysical neutrino flux. We compute the spectrum of this neutrino flux in different models and show that it is a possible candidate for the source of the PeV neutrinos recently detected by IceCube. We further show that, independent of the generation mechanism, IceCube data can be explained (at $1\sigma$ confidence level) by conversion of accretion onto stellar mass (supermassive) black holes, into neutrinos at efficiencies of $\gtrsim 10^{-4} (10^{-2})$.
%U http://arxiv.org/abs/1502.01023v1