KM3NeT/ARCA stacking search for high-energy neutrinos from blazars

TL;DR

This paper reports on a search for high-energy neutrinos from blazars, specifically HBLs, using the KM3NeT/ARCA detector, employing a stacking analysis of 232 sources to identify potential neutrino emissions.

Contribution

It introduces a novel stacking analysis of HBLs with KM3NeT/ARCA data, utilizing detailed emission models to enhance neutrino detection sensitivity.

Findings

No significant neutrino signal detected from the HBLs sample.

Constraints placed on neutrino emission models of blazars.

Demonstrates the effectiveness of stacking analysis for neutrino source searches.

Abstract

Blazars are promising targets for neutrino astronomy, as highlighted by IceCube's identification of TXS 0506+056 as a cosmic neutrino source candidate. High-frequency-peaked BL Lacs (HBLs) stand out due to their characteristic electromagnetic high-energy emission properties, which makes them as well promising candidates for the production of high-energy neutrinos. Such neutrinos could be detected by KM3NeT/ARCA, a next-generation deep-sea Cherenkov detector under construction in the Mediterranean Sea. This contribution presents the results of a binned likelihood stacking analysis investigating high-energy neutrino emissions from a subset of HBLs. A total of 232 sources have been selected from the 3HSP catalogue and targeted in the analysis of KM3NeT/ARCA data taken with several detector configurations, specifically in the period in which from 6 to 21 detection units were deployed. The analysis is based on neutrino emission models of blazars developed using the LeHa-Paris numerical code, which simulates the spectral energy distribution of jetted active galactic nuclei.