학술논문
Multiwavelength follow-up of a rare IceCube neutrino multiplet
Document Type
article
Author
Aartsen, MG; Ackermann, M; Adams, J; Aguilar, JA; Ahlers, M; Ahrens, M; Al Samarai, I; Altmann, D; Andeen, K; Anderson, T; Ansseau, I; Anton, G; Archinger, M; Argüelles, C; Auffenberg, J; Axani, S; Bai, X; Barwick, SW; Baum, V; Bay, R; Beatty, JJ; Tjus, J Becker; Becker, K-H; BenZvi, S; Berley, D; Bernardini, E; Bernhard, A; Besson, DZ; Binder, G; Bindig, D; Blaufuss, E; Blot, S; Bohm, C; Börner, M; Bos, F; Bose, D; Böser, S; Botner, O; Braun, J; Brayeur, L; Bretz, H-P; Bron, S; Burgman, A; Carver, T; Casier, M; Cheung, E; Chirkin, D; Christov, A; Clark, K; Classen, L; Coenders, S; Collin, GH; Conrad, JM; Cowen, DF; Cross, R; Day, M; de André, JPAM; De Clercq, C; del Pino Rosendo, E; Dembinski, H; De Ridder, S; Desiati, P; de Vries, KD; de Wasseige, G; de With, M; DeYoung, T; di Lorenzo, V; Dujmovic, H; Dumm, JP; Dunkman, M; Eberhardt, B; Ehrhardt, T; Eichmann, B; Eller, P; Euler, S; Evenson, PA; Fahey, S; Fazely, AR; Feintzeig, J; Felde, J; Filimonov, K; Finley, C; Flis, S; Fösig, C-C; Franckowiak, A; Friedman, E; Fuchs, T; Gaisser, TK; Gallagher, J; Gerhardt, L; Ghorbani, K; Giang, W; Gladstone, L; Glauch, T; Glüsenkamp, T; Goldschmidt, A; Gonzalez, JG; Grant, D; Griffith, Z; Haack, C
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Subject
Language
Abstract
On February 17, 2016, the IceCube real-time neutrino search identified, for the first time, three muon neutrino candidates arriving within 100 s of one another, consistent with coming from the same point in the sky. Such a triplet is expected once every 13.7 years as a random coincidence of background events. However, considering the lifetime of the follow-up program the probability of detecting at least one triplet from atmospheric background is 32%. Follow-up observatories were notified in order to search for an electromagnetic counterpart. Observations were obtained by Swift's X-ray telescope, by ASAS-SN, LCO and MASTER at optical wavelengths, and by VERITAS in the very-high-energy gamma-ray regime. Moreover, the Swift BAT serendipitously observed the location 100 s after the first neutrino was detected, and data from the Fermi LAT and HAWC observatory were analyzed. We present details of the neutrino triplet and the follow-up observations. No likely electromagnetic counterpart was detected, and we discuss the implications of these constraints on candidate neutrino sources such as gamma-ray bursts, core-collapse supernovae and active galactic nucleus flares. This study illustrates the potential of and challenges for future follow-up campaigns.