A Time-independent Search for Neutrinos from Galaxy Clusters with IceCube

TL;DR

This study conducts a decade-long, time-independent search for neutrinos from over a thousand galaxy clusters using IceCube data, aiming to understand their contribution to the diffuse astrophysical neutrino flux.

Contribution

It presents the first comprehensive stacked analysis of galaxy clusters' neutrino emission using Planck SZ data, constraining their role in high-energy neutrino production.

Findings

No significant neutrino excess detected from galaxy clusters.

Provides upper limits on neutrino flux from galaxy clusters.

Implications for cosmic-ray acceleration models in large-scale structures.

Abstract

Clusters of galaxies -- with their turbulent magnetic fields and abundant matter content -- are a promising class of potential neutrino sources. Cosmic rays accelerated within the large-scale shocks,Active GalacticNuclei (AGN), or both can be confined in galaxy clusters over cosmological timescales and produce a steady flux of neutrinos in secondary interactions. The IceCube Neutrino Observatory has detected a diffuse flux of high-energy astrophysical neutrinos. After ten years of operations, however, the origin of this flux remains largely unconstrained. In this work, we perform a stacked search for neutrinos, using a population of over one thousand galaxy clusters detected by the Planck Satellite via the Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) effect up to a redshift $z = 1$. We present the first results on the contribution of galaxy clusters to the diffuse neutrino flux and discuss the implications for various models of cosmic-ray acceleration in large-scale structures.