Exploring IceCube Neutrino Alerts with the HAWC Observatory

TL;DR

This study cross-referenced IceCube neutrino alerts with HAWC gamma-ray data to identify potential astrophysical sources, finding a notable coincidence with the active galactic nucleus Markarian 421, demonstrating the effectiveness of multi-messenger analysis.

Contribution

It introduces a Bayesian Block coincidence search method combining IceCube and HAWC data, revealing potential neutrino-gamma-ray source associations.

Findings

25 neutrino alerts coincided with gamma-ray detections

One alert coincided with Markarian 421, an active galactic nucleus

The method shows promise for multi-messenger astrophysics

Abstract

While much work has gone into associating neutrino emission with various sources, very few sources have emerged. With the recent publication of IceCube Event Catalog (IceCat-1), the IceCube neutrino observatory has released a list of the most promising astrophysical neutrino events since operations began in 2010. Using the archival data from the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) gamma-ray observatory, we perform a coincidence search for gamma rays and neutrinos using a Bayesian Block algorithm with the public IceCube alerts from IceCat-1 and the Astrophysical Multi-messenger Observatory Network (AMON). Of the 350 alerts considered, 25 detections were found, with 1 coinciding with the flaring HAWC source Markarian 421, an active galactic nuclei. We present the performance of this method and a discussion of physics implications.