The Galactic Center Origin of a Subset of IceCube Neutrino Events

TL;DR

This paper suggests that a subset of high-energy neutrinos detected by IceCube likely originate from the Galactic Center, indicating a common hadronic source linked to supernova activity, supported by correlations with gamma-ray observations.

Contribution

It provides evidence linking IceCube neutrino events to the Galactic Center and Fermi bubbles, proposing a hadronic origin consistent with gamma-ray data.

Findings

5 out of 21 IceCube events likely from Galactic Center

Neutrino flux aligns with gamma-ray flux from Fermi-LAT

Some events correlated with Fermi bubbles

Abstract

The center of the Milkyway is a host to energetic phenomena across many electromagnetic wave-bands and now possibly of high-energy neutrinos. We show that 5 out of 21 IceCube shower-like events, including a PeV event, likely originated from the Galactic Center region. Hard spectrum and flux inferred from these events are inconsistent with atmospheric neutrinos. The flux of these neutrinos is consistent with an extrapolation of the gamma-ray flux measured by Fermi-LAT from the inner Galactic region. This indicates a common hadronic origin of both, powered by supernovae. Three other shower-like events are spatially correlated with the Fermi bubbles, originating from the Galactic Center activity, within the uncertainty of reconstructing their arrival directions. Origin of the other neutrino events, including 7 track-like events, is still elusive.