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Constraints on Populations of Neutrino Sources from Searches in the Directions of IceCube Neutrino Alerts
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Constraints on Populations of Neutrino Sources from Searches in the Directions of IceCube Neutrino Alerts

IceCube Collaboration, R. Abbasi, M. Ackermann, J. Adams, N. Aggarwal, J. A. Aguilar, M. Ahlers, J. M. Alameddine, A. A. Alves, N. M. Amin, …
The Astrophysical journal, v 951(1), p45
01 Jul 2023
url
https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acd2caView
Published, Version of Record (VoR)CC BY V4.0 Open

Abstract

Neutrino astronomy Transient sources High Energy Astrophysics
Beginning in 2016, the IceCube Neutrino Observatory has sent out alerts in real time containing the information of high-energy (E≳100~TeV) neutrino candidate events with moderate-to-high (≳30\%) probability of astrophysical origin. In this work, we use a recent catalog of such alert events, which, in addition to events announced in real-time, includes events that were identified retroactively, and covers the time period of 2011-2020. We also search for additional, lower-energy, neutrinos from the arrival directions of these IceCube alerts. We show how performing such an analysis can constrain the contribution of rare populations of cosmic neutrino sources to the diffuse astrophysical neutrino flux. After searching for neutrino emission coincident with these alert events on various timescales, we find no significant evidence of either minute-scale or day-scale transient neutrino emission or of steady neutrino emission in the direction of these alert events. This study also shows how numerous a population of neutrino sources has to be to account for the complete astrophysical neutrino flux. Assuming sources have the same luminosity, an E$^{−2.5}$ neutrino spectrum and number densities that follow star-formation rates, the population of sources has to be more numerous than 7×10$^{−9}$ Mpc$^{−3}$. This number changes to 3×10$^{−7}$ Mpc$^{−3}$ if number densities instead have no cosmic evolution.

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
International collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Astronomy & Astrophysics
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