299 research outputs found
Searches for Neutrinos from Gamma-Ray Bursts Using the IceCube Neutrino Observatory
Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are considered as promising sources of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) due to their large power output. Observing a neutrino flux from GRBs would offer evidence that GRBs are hadronic accelerators of UHECRs. Previous IceCube analyses, which primarily focused on neutrinos arriving in temporal coincidence with the prompt gamma-rays, found no significant neutrino excess. The four analyses presented in this paper extend the region of interest to 14 days before and after the prompt phase, including generic extended time windows and targeted precursor searches. GRBs were selected between 2011 May and 2018 October to align with the data set of candidate muon-neutrino events observed by IceCube. No evidence of correlation between neutrino events and GRBs was found in these analyses. Limits are set to constrain the contribution of the cosmic GRB population to the diffuse astrophysical neutrino flux observed by IceCube. Prompt neutrino emission from GRBs is limited to ≲1% of the observed diffuse neutrino flux, and emission on timescales up to 104 s is constrained to 24% of the total diffuse flux.Peer Reviewe
A Search for Coincident Neutrino Emission from Fast Radio Bursts with Seven Years of IceCube Cascade Events
This paper presents the results of a search for neutrinos that are spatially and temporally coincident with 22 unique, nonrepeating fast radio bursts (FRBs) and one repeating FRB (FRB 121102). FRBs are a rapidly growing class of Galactic and extragalactic astrophysical objects that are considered a potential source of high-energy neutrinos. The IceCube Neutrino Observatory\u27s previous FRB analyses have solely used track events. This search utilizes seven years of IceCube cascade events which are statistically independent of track events. This event selection allows probing of a longer range of extended timescales due to the low background rate. No statistically significant clustering of neutrinos was observed. Upper limits are set on the time-integrated neutrino flux emitted by FRBs for a range of extended time windows
Graph Neural Networks for low-energy event classification & reconstruction in IceCube
IceCube, a cubic-kilometer array of optical sensors built to detect atmospheric and astrophysical neutrinos between 1 GeV and 1 PeV, is deployed 1.45 km to 2.45 km below the surface of the ice sheet at the South Pole. The classification and reconstruction of events from the in-ice detectors play a central role in the analysis of data from IceCube. Reconstructing and classifying events is a challenge due to the irregular detector geometry, inhomogeneous scattering and absorption of light in the ice and, below 100 GeV, the relatively low number of signal photons produced per event. To address this challenge, it is possible to represent IceCube events as point cloud graphs and use a Graph Neural Network (GNN) as the classification and reconstruction method. The GNN is capable of distinguishing neutrino events from cosmic-ray backgrounds, classifying different neutrino event types, and reconstructing the deposited energy, direction and interaction vertex. Based on simulation, we provide a comparison in the 1 GeV–100 GeV energy range to the current state-of-the-art maximum likelihood techniques used in current IceCube analyses, including the effects of known systematic uncertainties. For neutrino event classification, the GNN increases the signal efficiency by 18% at a fixed background rate, compared to current IceCube methods. Alternatively, the GNN offers a reduction of the background (i.e. false positive) rate by over a factor 8 (to below half a percent) at a fixed signal efficiency. For the reconstruction of energy, direction, and interaction vertex, the resolution improves by an average of 13%–20% compared to current maximum likelihood techniques in the energy range of 1 GeV–30 GeV. The GNN, when run on a GPU, is capable of processing IceCube events at a rate nearly double of the median IceCube trigger rate of 2.7 kHz, which opens the possibility of using low energy neutrinos in online searches for transient events.Peer Reviewe
Measurement of atmospheric neutrino mixing with improved IceCube DeepCore calibration and data processing
We describe a new data sample of IceCube DeepCore and report on the latest measurement of atmospheric neutrino oscillations obtained with data recorded between 2011–2019. The sample includes significant improvements in data calibration, detector simulation, and data processing, and the analysis benefits from a sophisticated treatment of systematic uncertainties, with significantly greater level of detail since our last study. By measuring the relative fluxes of neutrino flavors as a function of their reconstructed energies and arrival directions we constrain the atmospheric neutrino mixing parameters to be sin2θ23=0.51±0.05 and Δm232=2.41±0.07×10−3 eV2, assuming a normal mass ordering. The errors include both statistical and systematic uncertainties. The resulting 40% reduction in the error of both parameters with respect to our previous result makes this the most precise measurement of oscillation parameters using atmospheric neutrinos. Our results are also compatible and complementary to those obtained using neutrino beams from accelerators, which are obtained at lower neutrino energies and are subject to different sources of uncertainties
A muon-track reconstruction exploiting stochastic losses for large-scale Cherenkov detectors
IceCube is a cubic-kilometer Cherenkov telescope operating at the South Pole.
The main goal of IceCube is the detection of astrophysical neutrinos and the
identification of their sources. High-energy muon neutrinos are observed via
the secondary muons produced in charge current interactions with nuclei in the
ice. Currently, the best performing muon track directional reconstruction is
based on a maximum likelihood method using the arrival time distribution of
Cherenkov photons registered by the experiment's photomultipliers. A known
systematic shortcoming of the prevailing method is to assume a continuous
energy loss along the muon track. However at energies TeV the light yield
from muons is dominated by stochastic showers. This paper discusses a
generalized ansatz where the expected arrival time distribution is parametrized
by a stochastic muon energy loss pattern. This more realistic parametrization
of the loss profile leads to an improvement of the muon angular resolution of
up to for through-going tracks and up to a factor 2 for starting tracks
over existing algorithms. Additionally, the procedure to estimate the
directional reconstruction uncertainty has been improved to be more robust
against numerical errors
A search for time-dependent astrophysical neutrino emission with IceCube data from 2012 to 2017
High-energy neutrinos are unique messengers of the high-energy universe,
tracing the processes of cosmic-ray acceleration. This paper presents analyses
focusing on time-dependent neutrino point-source searches. A scan of the whole
sky, making no prior assumption about source candidates, is performed, looking
for a space and time clustering of high-energy neutrinos in data collected by
the IceCube Neutrino Observatory between 2012 and 2017. No statistically
significant evidence for a time-dependent neutrino signal is found with this
search during this period since all results are consistent with the background
expectation. Within this study period, the blazar 3C 279, showed strong
variability, inducing a very prominent gamma-ray flare observed in 2015 June.
This event motivated a dedicated study of the blazar, which consists of
searching for a time-dependent neutrino signal correlated with the gamma-ray
emission. No evidence for a time-dependent signal is found. Hence, an upper
limit on the neutrino fluence is derived, allowing us to constrain a hadronic
emission model
Measurement of Atmospheric Neutrino Mixing with Improved IceCube DeepCore Calibration and Data Processing
We describe a new data sample of IceCube DeepCore and report on the latest
measurement of atmospheric neutrino oscillations obtained with data recorded
between 2011-2019. The sample includes significant improvements in data
calibration, detector simulation, and data processing, and the analysis
benefits from a detailed treatment of systematic uncertainties, with
significantly higher level of detail since our last study. By measuring the
relative fluxes of neutrino flavors as a function of their reconstructed
energies and arrival directions we constrain the atmospheric neutrino mixing
parameters to be and , assuming a normal mass ordering. The
resulting 40\% reduction in the error of both parameters with respect to our
previous result makes this the most precise measurement of oscillation
parameters using atmospheric neutrinos. Our results are also compatible and
complementary to those obtained using neutrino beams from accelerators, which
are obtained at lower neutrino energies and are subject to different sources of
uncertainties
Limits on Neutrino Emission from GRB 221009A from MeV to PeV using the IceCube Neutrino Observatory
Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) have long been considered a possible source of
high-energy neutrinos. While no correlations have yet been detected between
high-energy neutrinos and GRBs, the recent observation of GRB 221009A - the
brightest GRB observed by Fermi-GBM to date and the first one to be observed
above an energy of 10 TeV - provides a unique opportunity to test for hadronic
emission. In this paper, we leverage the wide energy range of the IceCube
Neutrino Observatory to search for neutrinos from GRB 221009A. We find no
significant deviation from background expectation across event samples ranging
from MeV to PeV energies, placing stringent upper limits on the neutrino
emission from this source.Comment: Version in ApJ Letters Focus on the Ultra-luminous Gamma-Ray Burst
GRB 221009
Measurement of Astrophysical Tau Neutrinos in IceCube's High-Energy Starting Events
We present the results of a search for astrophysical tau neutrinos in 7.5
years of IceCube's high-energy starting event data. At high energies, two
energy depositions stemming from the tau neutrino charged-current interaction
and subsequent tau lepton decay may be resolved. We report the first detection
of two such events, with probabilities of and of being
produced by astrophysical tau neutrinos. The resultant astrophysical neutrino
flavor measurement is consistent with expectations, disfavoring a
no-astrophysical tau neutrino flux scenario with 2.8 significance.Comment: This article is supported by a long-form paper that discusses the
high-energy starting event selection titled: "The IceCube high-energy
starting event sample: Description and flux characterization with 7.5 years
of data.
Detection of astrophysical tau neutrino candidates in IceCube
High-energy tau neutrinos are rarely produced in atmospheric cosmic-ray showers or at cosmic particle accelerators, but are expected to emerge during neutrino propagation over cosmic distances due to flavor mixing. When high energy tau neutrinos interact inside the IceCube detector, two spatially separated energy depositions may be resolved, the first from the charged current interaction and the second from the tau lepton decay. We report a novel analysis of 7.5 years of IceCube data that identifies two candidate tau neutrinos among the 60 “High-Energy Starting Events” (HESE) collected during that period. The HESE sample offers high purity, all-sky sensitivity, and distinct observational signatures for each neutrino flavor, enabling a new measurement of the flavor composition. The measured astrophysical neutrino flavor composition is consistent with expectations, and an astrophysical tau neutrino flux is indicated at 2.8 significance
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