The Concordance Cosmic Star Formation Rate: Implications from and for the Supernova Neutrino and Gamma Ray Backgrounds

Abstract

We constrain the Cosmic Star Formation Rate (CSFR) by requiring that massive stars produce the observed UV, optical, and IR light while at the same time not overproduce the Diffuse Supernova Neutrino Background as bounded by Super-Kamiokande. With the massive star component so constrained we then show that a reasonable choice of stellar Initial Mass Function and other parameters results in SNIa rates and iron yields in good agreement with data. In this way we define a `concordance' CSFR that predicts the optical SNII rate and the SNIa contribution to the MeV Cosmic Gamma-Ray Background. The CSFR constrained to reproduce these and other proxies of intermediate and massive star formation is more clearly delineated than if it were measured by any one technique and has the following testable consequences: (1) SNIa contribute only a small fraction of the MeV Cosmic Gamma-Ray Background, (2) massive star core-collapse is nearly always accompanied by a successful optical SNII, and (3) the Diffuse Supernova Neutrino Background is tantalizingly close to detectability.