A Search for Astrophysical Neutrinos from Flaring X-ray Binaries with IceCube

TL;DR

This paper investigates the potential of galactic X-ray binary systems as sources of astrophysical neutrinos, analyzing 13 years of IceCube data with models and multi-wavelength observations to identify correlations and constrain their contribution to the Galactic neutrino flux.

Contribution

It introduces a model for neutrino production in variable jets of X-ray binaries and applies it to IceCube data, incorporating multi-wavelength observations for the first time.

Findings

No significant neutrino signals detected from selected X-ray binaries.

Constraints placed on the contribution of X-ray binaries to the Galactic neutrino flux.

Methodology developed for future multi-messenger neutrino source searches.

Abstract

Recently, IceCube has observed an excess of astrophysical neutrinos from the Galactic plane. Such a signal may indicate the presence of individual sources or a diffuse neutrino flux from the interactions of Galactic, hadronic cosmic rays. We consider the prospect of neutrino production in galactic X-ray binary systems. A model for neutrino production in the variable jets of these systems is discussed, and how such information may be incorporated within searches for astrophysical neutrinos from these sources. Two ongoing studies are presented on behalf of the IceCube Collaboration using 13 years of cascades and track-like events. In the first study, recently published model predictions are used to motivate the analysis of five selected black-hole X-ray binaries. Gamma-ray data from Fermi-LAT, as well as X-ray data from Swift/BAT and MAXI are used to search for temporal correlations between radiative cycles of the disk-jet system and potential neutrino emission. In the second study, a wider selection of variable X-ray binaries and their Swift/BAT light curves is considered and a stacking search is used to constrain the contribution of this source population to the Galactic neutrino flux.