Volume 301 - 35th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC2017) - Session Gamma-Ray Astronomy. GA-extra-galactic
Searching for VHE gamma-ray emission associated with IceCube astrophysical neutrinos using FACT, H.E.S.S., MAGIC, and VERITAS
M. Santander* on behalf of the VERITAS Collaboration, D. Dorner on behalf of the FACT Collaboration, J. Dumm on behalf of the IceCube Collaboration, K. Satalecka on behalf of the MAGIC collaboration, F. Schüssler on behalf of the H.E.S.S. collaboration
*corresponding author
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Pre-published on: 2017-08-16 15:26:07
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Abstract
The detection of an astrophysical flux of high-energy neutrinos by IceCube is a major step forward in the search for the origin of cosmic rays, as this emission is expected to originate in hadronic interactions taking place in or near cosmic-ray accelerators. No neutrino point sources, or a significant correlation with known astrophysical objects, have been identified in the IceCube data so far that could reveal the location of the neutrino emission sites. The hadronic interactions responsible for the neutrino emission should also lead to the production of high-energy gamma rays from neutral pion decays. The search for neutrino sources can therefore be performed by studying the spatial and temporal correlations between neutrino events and very-high-energy (VHE, E > 100 GeV) gamma rays. We report on the search for VHE gamma-ray emission at the reconstructed position of muon neutrino events detected by IceCube using the FACT, H.E.S.S., MAGIC, and VERITAS imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes (IACTs). No significant steady gamma-ray counterparts have been identified for the neutrino events observed so far. Finally, we outline recent programs to perform prompt IACT observations of realtime IceCube neutrino event positions.
Open Access