Constraints on Galactic Neutrino Emission with Seven Years of IceCube Data

M. G. Aartsen, M. Ackermann, J. Adams, J. A. Aguilar, M. Ahlers, M. Ahrens, I. Al Samarai, D. Altmann, K. Andeen, T. Anderson, I. Ansseau, G. Anton, C. Argüelles, J. Auffenberg, S. Axani, H. Bagherpour, X. Bai, J. P. Barron, S. W. Barwick, V. BaumR. Bay, J. J. Beatty, J. Becker Tjus, K. H. Becker, S. Benzvi, D. Berley, E. Bernardini, D. Z. Besson, G. Binder, D. Bindig, E. Blaufuss, S. Blot, C. Bohm, M. Börner, F. Bos, D. Bose, S. Böser, O. Botner, J. Bourbeau, F. Bradascio, J. Braun, L. Brayeur, M. Brenzke, H. P. Bretz, S. Bron, A. Burgman, T. Carver, J. Casey, M. Casier, E. Cheung, D. Chirkin, A. Christov, K. Clark, L. Classen, S. Coenders, G. H. Collin, J. M. Conrad, D. F. Cowen, R. Cross, M. Day, J. P.A.M.D. André, C. De Clercq, J. J. Delaunay, H. Dembinski, S. De Ridder, P. Desiati, K. D.De Vries, G. De Wasseige, M. De With, T. Deyoung, J. C. Daz-Vélez, V. Di Lorenzo, H. Dujmovic, J. P. Dumm, M. Dunkman, B. Eberhardt, T. Ehrhardt, B. Eichmann, P. Eller, P. A. Evenson, S. Fahey, A. R. Fazely, J. Felde, K. Filimonov, C. Finley, S. Flis, A. Franckowiak, E. Friedman, T. Fuchs, T. K. Gaisser, J. Gallagher, L. Gerhardt, K. Ghorbani, W. Giang, T. Glauch, T. Glüsenkamp, A. Goldschmidt, J. G. Gonzalez, D. Grant, Z. Griffith, C. Haack, A. Hallgren, F. Halzen, K. Hanson, D. Hebecker, D. Heereman, K. Helbing, R. Hellauer, S. Hickford, J. Hignight, G. C. Hill, K. D. Hoffman, R. Hoffmann, B. Hokanson-Fasig, K. Hoshina, F. Huang, M. Huber, K. Hultqvist, S. In, A. Ishihara, E. Jacobi, G. S. Japaridze, M. Jeong, K. Jero, B. J.P. Jones, P. Kalacynski, W. Kang, A. Kappes, T. Karg, A. Karle, U. Katz, M. Kauer, A. Keivani, J. L. Kelley, A. Kheirandish, J. Kim, M. Kim, T. Kintscher, J. Kiryluk, T. Kittler, S. R. Klein, G. Kohnen, R. Koirala, H. Kolanoski, L. Köpke, C. Kopper, S. Kopper, J. P. Koschinsky, D. J. Koskinen, M. Kowalski, K. Krings, M. Kroll, G. Krückl, J. Kunnen, S. Kunwar, N. Kurahashi, T. Kuwabara, A. Kyriacou, M. Labare, J. L. Lanfranchi, M. J. Larson, F. Lauber, D. Lennarz, M. Lesiak-Bzdak, M. Leuermann, Q. R. Liu, L. Lu, J. Lünemann, W. Luszczak, J. Madsen, G. Maggi, K. B.M. Mahn, S. Mancina, R. Maruyama, K. Mase, R. Maunu, F. McNally, K. Meagher, M. Medici, M. Meier, T. Menne, G. Merino, T. Meures, S. Miarecki, J. Micallef, G. Momenté, T. Montaruli, R. W. Moore, M. Moulai, R. Nahnhauer, P. Nakarmi, U. Naumann, G. Neer, H. Niederhausen, S. C. Nowicki, D. R. Nygren, A. Obertacke Pollmann, A. Olivas, A. O'Murchadha, T. Palczewski, H. Pandya, D. V. Pankova, P. Peiffer, J. A. Pepper, C. Pérez De Los Heros, D. Pieloth, E. Pinat, M. Plum, P. B. Price, G. T. Przybylski, C. Raab, L. Radel, M. Rameez, K. Rawlins, R. Reimann, B. Relethford, M. Relich, E. Resconi, W. Rhode, M. Richman, S. Robertson, M. Rongen, C. Rott, T. Ruhe, D. Ryckbosch, D. Rysewyk, T. Salzer, S. E.Sanchez Herrera, A. Sandrock, J. Sandroos, S. Sarkar, K. Satalecka, P. Schlunder, T. Schmidt, A. Schneider, S. Schoenen, S. Schöneberg, L. Schumacher, D. Seckel, S. Seunarine, D. Soldin, M. Song, G. M. Spiczak, C. Spiering, J. Stachurska, T. Stanev, A. Stasik, J. Stettner, A. Steuer, T. Stezelberger, R. G. Stokstad, A. Stößl, N. L. Strotjohann, G. W. Sullivan, M. Sutherland, I. Taboada, J. Tatar, F. Tenholt, S. Ter-Antonyan, A. Terliuk, G. Tešić, S. Tilav, P. A. Toale, M. N. Tobin, S. Toscano, D. Tosi, M. Tselengidou, C. F. Tung, A. Turcati, C. F. Turley, B. Ty, E. Unger, M. Usner, J. Vandenbroucke, W. Van Driessche, N. Van Eijndhoven, S. Vanheule, J. Van Santen, M. Vehring, E. Vogel, M. Vraeghe, C. Walck, A. Wallace, M. Wallraff, F. D. Wandler, N. Wandkowsky, A. Waza, C. Weaver, M. J. Weiss, C. Wendt, S. Westerhoff, B. J. Whelan, S. Wickmann, K. Wiebe, C. H. Wiebusch, L. Wille, D. R. Williams, L. Wills, M. Wolf, J. Wood, T. R. Wood, E. Woolsey, K. Woschnagg, D. L. Xu, X. W. Xu, Y. Xu, J. P. Yanez, G. Yodh, S. Yoshida, T. Yuan, M. Zoll

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

104 Scopus citations

Abstract

The origins of high-energy astrophysical neutrinos remain a mystery despite extensive searches for their sources. We present constraints from seven years of IceCube Neutrino Observatory muon data on the neutrino flux coming from the Galactic plane. This flux is expected from cosmic-ray interactions with the interstellar medium or near localized sources. Two methods were developed to test for a spatially extended flux from the entire plane, both of which are maximum likelihood fits but with different signal and background modeling techniques. We consider three templates for Galactic neutrino emission based primarily on gamma-ray observations and models that cover a wide range of possibilities. Based on these templates and in the benchmark case of an unbroken E-2.5 power-law energy spectrum, we set 90% confidence level upper limits, constraining the possible Galactic contribution to the diffuse neutrino flux to be relatively small, less than 14% of the flux reported in Aartsen et al. above 1 TeV. A stacking method is also used to test catalogs of known high-energy Galactic gamma-ray sources.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number67
JournalAstrophysical Journal
Volume849
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 1 2017

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • Space and Planetary Science

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Constraints on Galactic Neutrino Emission with Seven Years of IceCube Data'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this