The Search for Muon Neutrinos from Northern Hemisphere Gamma-Ray Bursts with AMANDA

Journal Article · Sun Feb 10 00:00:00 EST 2008 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1086/524920; COUNTRY OF INPUT: INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY (IAEA)· OSTI ID:21255754

Achterberg, A ^[1]; Ackermann, M; Bernardini, E ^[2]; Adams, J ^[3]; Ahrens, J; Becka, T ^[4]; Andeen, K ^[5]; Auffenberg, J; Becker, K -H ^[6]; Bahcall, J N ^[7]; Bai, X ^[8]; Baret, B ^[9]; Barwick, S W ^[10]; Bay, R ^[11]; Beattie, K ^[12]; Becker, J K ^[13]; Berghaus, P; Bertrand, D ^[14]; Berley, D ^[15]; Besson, D Z ^[16]

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1. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Utrecht University/SRON, NL-3584 CC Utrecht (Netherlands)
2. Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron, D-15735 Zeuthen (Germany)
3. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch (New Zealand)
4. Institute of Physics, University of Mainz, Staudinger Weg 7, D-55099 Mainz (Germany)
5. Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706 (United States)
6. Department of Physics, University of Wuppertal, D-42119 Wuppertal (Germany)
7. Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ 08540 (United States)
8. Bartol Research Institute, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716 (United States)
9. Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Dienst ELEM, B-1050 Brussels (Belgium)
10. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697 (United States)
11. Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States)
12. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States)
13. Department of Physics, Universitaet Dortmund, D-44221 Dortmund (Germany)
14. Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Science Faculty CP230, B-1050 Brussels (Belgium)
15. Department of Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 (United States)
16. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045 (United States)

We present the results of the analysis of neutrino observations by the Antarctic Muon and Neutrino Detector Array (AMANDA) correlated with photon observations of more than 400 gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) in the northern hemisphere from 1997 to 2003. During this time period, AMANDA's effective collection area for muon neutrinos was larger than that of any other existing detector. After the application of various selection criteria to our data, we expect {approx}1 neutrino event and <2 background events. Based on our observations of zero events during and immediately prior to the GRBs in the data set, we set the most stringent upper limit on muon neutrino emission correlated with GRBs. Assuming a Waxman-Bahcall spectrum and incorporating all systematic uncertainties, our flux upper limit has a normalization at 1 PeV of E{sup 2}{phi}{sub {nu}} {<=} 6.3 x 10{sup -9} GeV cm{sup -2} s{sup -1} sr{sup -1}, with 90% of the events expected within the energy range of {approx}10 TeV to {approx}3 PeV. The impact of this limit on several theoretical models of GRBs is discussed, as well as the future potential for detection of GRBs by next-generation neutrino telescopes. Finally, we briefly describe several modifications to this analysis in order to apply it to other types of transient point sources.

• OSTI ID: 21255754
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 674, Issue 1; Other Information: DOI: 10.1086/524920; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS//MATHEMATICS, COMPUTING, AND INFORMATION SCIENCE
COSMIC GAMMA BURSTS
EMISSION
MUON NEUTRINOS
NORTHERN HEMISPHERE
PEV RANGE
PHOTONS
POINT SOURCES
SPECTRA
TELESCOPES
TEV RANGE 01-10