Evaluation of expected solar flare neutrino events in the IceCube observatory

TL;DR

This paper assesses IceCube's potential to detect neutrinos from solar flares, using a stacking analysis and Geant4 simulations to evaluate possible signals and set upper limits.

Contribution

It introduces a novel time profile analysis method and evaluates IceCube's sensitivity to solar flare neutrinos with detailed simulations.

Findings

Potential detection of solar flare neutrinos with IceCube

Development of a stacking analysis approach

Establishment of upper limits on solar flare neutrino flux

Abstract

Since the end of the eighties and in response to a reported increase in the total neutrino flux in the Homestake experiment in coincidence with a solar flare, solar neutrino detectors have searched for solar flare signals. Neutrinos from the decay of mesons, which are themselves produced in collisions of accelerated protons with the solar atmosphere, would provide a novel window on the underlying physics of the acceleration process. For our studies we focus on the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, a cubic kilometer neutrino detector located at the geographical South Pole. Due to its Supernova data acquisition system and its DeepCore component, dedicated to low energy neutrinos, IceCube may be sensitive to solar flare neutrinos and thus permit either a measurement of the signal or the establishment of more stringent upper limits on the solar flare neutrino flux. We present an approach for a time profile analysis based on a stacking method and an evaluation of a possible solar flare signal in IceCube using the Geant4 toolkit.