The Spectra of IceCube Neutrino Candidate Sources

TL;DR

This paper investigates the spectral energy distributions, variability, and potential flare activity of blazar sources near IceCube's high-energy neutrinos to understand their role as neutrino sources.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive analysis of candidate neutrino sources, combining photon and neutrino data, and compares their variability with non-candidate blazars for the first time.

Findings

Hybrid spectral energy distributions reveal source characteristics.

Candidate sources show distinct variability patterns.

No significant flares coinciding with neutrino arrivals detected.

Abstract

We present recent work on the Spectra of IceCube Neutrino (SIN) candidate sources project. We defined a selection of candidate neutrino sources by identifying blazars in the vicinity of IceCube's highest-energy neutrinos. We now want to shed light on these source candidates' nature, starting at their redshift, continuing with their black hole masses, their variability, and, for the first time, a combined photon-neutrino spectral energy distribution. We present their hybrid spectral energy distributions (combining photon and neutrino fluxes), investigate the sources' variability in the near-infrared, optical, X-ray, and $\gamma$-ray bands, and compare the variability with a blazar sample of non-candidate sources. Furthermore, we search for flares at the arrival time of the high-energy neutrinos.