ICRC2017_1015.pdf (7.56 MB)
Four Swift searches for transient sources of high-energy neutrinos
conference contribution
posted on 2018-05-02, 13:49 authored by A. Keivani, D. F. Cowen, D. B. Fox, J. A. Kennea, G. Tešić, C. F. Turley, P. A. Evans, J. P. Osborne, F. E. MarshallWe present results of the first four Swift satellite follow-up campaigns seeking to identify transient or variable X-ray or UV/optical sources that might be associated with individual candidate high-energy cosmic muon neutrinos detected by the IceCube Neutrino Observatory. Real-time public alerts providing coordinates and arrival times of likely-cosmic neutrinos have been provided by IceCube, via the Astrophysical Multimessenger Observatory Network, since April 2016. Subsequent Swift X-ray observations of four likely-cosmic neutrinos (events 160731A, 161103A, 170312A, and 170321A) reveal multiple X-ray sources in the targeted 90%-containment regions, most of which have been previously identified, and none of which are considered likely sources of high-energy neutrinos. Observations exclude association with the brightest 30% to 65% of Swifttype γ-ray burst X-ray afterglows over the observed regions. Contemporaneous Swift UV/optical observations, providing reduced coverage of the event localizations, also reveal no candidate transient or variable UV/optical counterparts. We discuss the results of these campaigns and our plans for further follow-up of likely-cosmic high-energy neutrinos from IceCube.
Funding
The authors thank the IceCube collaboration for publicly distributing high energy neutrinos in real-time, and the Swift team for their rapid responses to these alerts. A.K., D.B.F., D.F.C., G.T. and C.F.T. acknowledge support from the National Science Foundation under grant PHY-1412633; A.K. and D.F.C. acknowledge support from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Swift Guest Investigator Program under grant NNX17AI95G. A.K. and G.T. gratefully acknowledge support from the Institute for Gravitation and the Cosmos at the Pennsylvania State University. P.A.E. and J.P.O. acknowledge support from the UK Space Agency.
History
Citation
Proceedings of Science, 2017, Part F135186Author affiliation
/Organisation/COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING/Department of Physics and AstronomySource
35th International Cosmic Ray Conference — ICRC2017, Bexco, Busan, KoreaVersion
- VoR (Version of Record)