All-sky Neutrino Point-source Search with IceCube Combined Track and Cascade Data

Abstract Despite extensive efforts, discovery of high-energy astrophysical neutrino sources remains elusive. We present an event-level simultaneous maximum likelihood analysis of tracks and cascades using IceCube data collected from 2008 April 6 to 2022 May 23 to search the whole sky for neutrino sources, and using a source catalog, for coincidence of neutrino emission with gamma-ray emission. This is the first time a simultaneous fit of different detection channels is used to conduct a time-integrated all-sky scan with IceCube. Combining all-sky tracks, with superior pointing power and sensitivity in the northern sky, with all-sky cascades, with good energy resolution and sensitivity in the southern sky, we have developed the most sensitive point-source search to date by IceCube that targets the entire sky. The most significant point in the northern sky aligns with NGC 1068, a Seyfert II galaxy, which, from the catalog search, shows a 3.5 σ excess over background after accounting for trials. The most significant point in the southern sky does not align with any source in the catalog and is not significant after accounting for trials. A search for the single most significant Gaussian flare at the locations of NGC 1068, PKS 1424+240, and the southern highest-significance point shows results consistent with expectations for steady emission. Notably, this is the first time that a flare shorter than four years has been excluded as being responsible for NGC 1068’s emergence as a neutrino source. Our results show that combining tracks and cascades when conducting neutrino source searches improves sensitivity and can lead to new discoveries.

Authors

Publication Details

Journal
The Astrophysical Journal
Published
2025-12-02
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ae113f
Citations
1
Primary Topic
Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
1.87
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article

All-sky Neutrino Point-source Search with IceCube Combined Track and Cascade Data

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1 citations
The Astrophysical Journal
Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena
1.87
article

All-sky Neutrino Point-source Search with IceCube Combined Track and Cascade Data

L. Schumacher, Kiara Carloni, Sarah Mechbal, Rishi Babu, Thijs van Eeden, S. W. Barwick, Y. Ashida, Diego Alberto Coloma Borja, M. Ha Minh, G. M. Spiczak, M. Lamoureux, Thien Nhan Chau, Spencer Griswold, Woosik Kang, A. Connolly, I. Taboada, Daniel Salazar-Gallegos, S. R. Klein, Michael Campana, James DeLaunay, Frank Schröder, Jonathan Mauro, P. Zhelnin, Felix Schlüter, S. Reusch, W. G. Thompson, C. H. Wiebusch, P. Desiati, Lukas Hennig, L. Gerhardt, Abdul Rehman, C. De Clercq, K. D. de Vries, Alexander Sandrock, Yuriy Popovych, A. Terliuk, Axel Pontén, M. Neumann, J. Krishnamoorthi, M. Stamatikos, C. Weaver, Hershal Pandya, C. Wendt, Ek Narayan Paudel, P. Zilberman, A. Parenti, G. de Wasseige, Veronika Palušová, A. Haungs, Erik Ganster, G. H. Collin, F. Varsi, B. Benkel, P. A. Evenson, J. Madsen, J. Vandenbroucke, M. Vereecken, Colton Hill, Shiqi Yu, Frederik Hermann Lauber, S. Böser, J. C. Díaz–Vélez, P. Weigel, Richard Naab, E. Yildizci, Julian Saffer, Christoph Raab, J. V. Santen, M. Dittmer, Matheus Hostert, Miaochen Jin, P. Hatch, T. Stürwald, Diyaselis Delgado, Carolin Klein, A. Wang, Felix Henningsen, J. M. Conrad, P. Eller, S. Yoshida, Julia Book, J. G. Gonzalez, D. F. Cowen, Aswathi Balagopal, Nils Heyer, Felix J. Yu, S. Sarkar, A. R. Fazely, Finn Mayhew, Kaustav Dutta, Bennett Brinson, F. Halzen, Z. Rechav, C. Spannfellner, Martin Wolf, S. Griffin, E. Bernardini, Alicia Mand, J. V. Mead, J. Peterson, Alan Coleman, Leon Hamacher, Matthias Thiesmeyer, Oliver Janik, Agnieszka Leszczyńska, Maximilian Meier, Martina Karl, C. Pérez de los Heros, Cristina Lagunas Gualda, P. Sampathkumar, L. Heuermann, Emma Kun, E. J. Roberts, Darren Grant, E. Krupczak, Sreetama Goswami, S. Robertson, N. Feigl, Sanjib Kumar Agarwalla, T. Glüsenkamp, C. Finley, C. Love, C. Argüelles, A. Medina, A. Weindl, K. Upshaw, A. Trettin, T. Ehrhardt, Y. T. Liu, Kathrine Mørch Groth, T. Stanev, A. Ishihara, Lucas Bloom, S. N. Axani, Jan Weldert, Barbara Skrzypek, X. 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article en
1 citations

Abstract

Abstract Despite extensive efforts, discovery of high-energy astrophysical neutrino sources remains elusive. We present an event-level simultaneous maximum likelihood analysis of tracks and cascades using IceCube data collected from 2008 April 6 to 2022 May 23 to search the whole sky for neutrino sources, and using a source catalog, for coincidence of neutrino emission with gamma-ray emission. This is the first time a simultaneous fit of different detection channels is used to conduct a time-integrated all-sky scan with IceCube. Combining all-sky tracks, with superior pointing power and sensitivity in the northern sky, with all-sky cascades, with good energy resolution and sensitivity in the southern sky, we have developed the most sensitive point-source search to date by IceCube that targets the entire sky. The most significant point in the northern sky aligns with NGC 1068, a Seyfert II galaxy, which, from the catalog search, shows a 3.5 σ excess over background after accounting for trials. The most significant point in the southern sky does not align with any source in the catalog and is not significant after accounting for trials. A search for the single most significant Gaussian flare at the locations of NGC 1068, PKS 1424+240, and the southern highest-significance point shows results consistent with expectations for steady emission. Notably, this is the first time that a flare shorter than four years has been excluded as being responsible for NGC 1068’s emergence as a neutrino source. Our results show that combining tracks and cascades when conducting neutrino source searches improves sensitivity and can lead to new discoveries.

The Astrophysical JournalVol. 995(1)
Openalex Percentile: Top 10%
Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena
1.87
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