118 research outputs found
First Search for Unstable Sterile Neutrinos with the IceCube Neutrino Observatory
We present a search for an unstable sterile neutrino by looking for a
matter-induced signal in eight years of atmospheric data collected
from 2011 to 2019 at the IceCube Neutrino Observatory. Both the (stable)
three-neutrino and the 3+1 sterile neutrino models are disfavored relative to
the unstable sterile neutrino model, though with -values of 2.5\% and
0.81\%, respectively, we do not observe evidence for 3+1 neutrinos with
neutrino decay. The best-fit parameters for the sterile neutrino with decay
model from this study are ,
, and , where
is the decay-mediating coupling. The preferred regions from short-baseline
oscillation searches are excluded at 90\% C.L
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 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, non-repeating Fast Radio Bursts
(FRBs) and one repeating FRB (FRB121102). 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's
previous FRB analyses have solely used track events. This search utilizes seven
years of IceCube's cascade events which are statistically independent of the
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
Density of GeV muons in air showers measured with IceTop
We present a measurement of the density of GeV muons in near-vertical air showers using three years of data recorded by the IceTop array at the South Pole. Depending on the shower size, the muon densities have been measured at lateral distances between 200 and 1000 m. From these lateral distributions, we derive the muon densities as functions of energy at reference distances of 600 and 800 m for primary energies between 2.5 and 40 PeV and between 9 and 120 PeV, respectively. The muon densities are determined using, as a baseline, the hadronic interaction model Sibyll 2.1 together with various composition models. The measurements are consistent with the predicted muon densities within these baseline interaction and composition models. The measured muon densities have also been compared to simulations using the post-LHC models EPOS-LHC and QGSJet-II.04. The result of this comparison is that the post-LHC models together with any given composition model yield higher muon densities than observed. This is in contrast to the observations above 1 EeV where all model simulations yield for any mass composition lower muon densities than the measured ones. The post-LHC models in general feature higher muon densities so that the agreement with experimental data at the highest energies is improved but the muon densities are not correct in the energy range between 2.5 and about 100 PeV
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
Observation of high-energy neutrinos from the Galactic plane
The origin of high-energy cosmic rays, atomic nuclei that continuously impact
Earth's atmosphere, has been a mystery for over a century. Due to deflection in
interstellar magnetic fields, cosmic rays from the Milky Way arrive at Earth
from random directions. However, near their sources and during propagation,
cosmic rays interact with matter and produce high-energy neutrinos. We search
for neutrino emission using machine learning techniques applied to ten years of
data from the IceCube Neutrino Observatory. We identify neutrino emission from
the Galactic plane at the 4.5 level of significance, by comparing
diffuse emission models to a background-only hypothesis. The signal is
consistent with modeled diffuse emission from the Galactic plane, but could
also arise from a population of unresolved point sources.Comment: Submitted on May 12th, 2022; Accepted on May 4th, 202
Searches for Neutrinos from LHAASO ultra-high-energy {\gamma}-ray sources using the IceCube Neutrino Observatory
Galactic PeVatrons are Galactic sources theorized to accelerate cosmic rays
up to PeV in energy. The accelerated cosmic rays are expected to interact
hadronically with nearby ambient gas or the interstellar medium, resulting in
{\gamma}-rays and neutrinos. Recently, the Large High Altitude Air Shower
Observatory (LHAASO) identified 12 {\gamma}-ray sources with emissions above
100 TeV, making them candidates for PeV cosmic-ray accelerators (PeVatrons).
While at these high energies the Klein-Nishina effect suppresses exponentially
leptonic emission from Galactic sources, evidence for neutrino emission would
unequivocally confirm hadronic acceleration. Here, we present the results of a
search for neutrinos from these {\gamma}-ray sources and stacking searches
testing for excess neutrino emission from all 12 sources as well as their
subcatalogs of supernova remnants and pulsar wind nebulae with 11 years of
track events from the IceCube Neutrino Observatory. No significant emissions
were found. Based on the resulting limits, we place constraints on the fraction
of {\gamma}-ray flux originating from the hadronic processes in the Crab Nebula
and LHAASOJ2226+6057
Low energy event reconstruction in IceCube DeepCore
The reconstruction of event-level information, such as the direction or energy of a neutrino interacting in IceCube DeepCore, is a crucial ingredient to many physics analyses. Algorithms to extract this high level information from the detector’s raw data have been successfully developed and used for high energy events. In this work, we address unique challenges associated with the reconstruction of lower energy events in the range of a few to hundreds of GeV and present two separate, state-of-the-art algorithms. One algorithm focuses on the fast directional reconstruction of events based on unscattered light. The second algorithm is a likelihood-based multipurpose reconstruction offering superior resolutions, at the expense of larger computational cost
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