Do high energy astrophysical neutrinos trace star formation?
- School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, 450 E. Tyler Mall, Tempe, AZ, 85287-1404 (United States)
- Department of Physics, Arizona State University, 450 E. Tyler Mall, Tempe, AZ, 85287-1504 (United States)
The IceCube Neutrino Observatory has provided the first map of the high energy (∼ 0.01–1 PeV) sky in neutrinos. Since neutrinos propagate undeflected, their arrival direction is an important identifier for sources of high energy particle acceleration. Reconstructed arrival directions are consistent with an extragalactic origin, with possibly a galactic component, of the neutrino flux. We present a statistical analysis of positional coincidences of the IceCube neutrinos with known astrophysical objects from several catalogs. When considering starburst galaxies with the highest flux in gamma-rays and infrared radiation, up to n=8 coincidences are found, representing an excess over the ∼4 predicted for the randomized, or ''null'' distribution. The probability that this excess is realized in the null case, the p-value, is p=0.042. This value falls to p=0.003 for a partial subset of gamma-ray-detected starburst galaxies and superbubble regions in the galactic neighborhood. Therefore, it is possible that starburst galaxies, and the typically hundreds of superbubble regions within them, might account for a portion of IceCube neutrinos. The physical plausibility of such correlation is discussed briefly.
- OSTI ID:
- 22525127
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, Vol. 2015, Issue 12; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1475-7516
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Implications of Fermi-LAT observations on the origin of IceCube neutrinos
Star-forming galaxies as the origin of diffuse high-energy backgrounds: gamma-ray and neutrino connections, and implications for starburst history