Search for High-energy Neutrino Emission from Galactic X-Ray Binaries with IceCube

Authors

R. Abbasi, Loyola University of Chicago
M. Ackermann, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY)
J. Adams, University of Canterbury
J. A. Aguilar, Université Libre de Bruxelles
M. Ahlers, Niels Bohr Institutet
M. Ahrens, Stockholms universitet
J. M. Alameddine, Technische Universität Dortmund
A. A. Alves, Karlsruher Institut für Technologie
N. M. Amin, The Bartol Research Institute
K. Andeen, Marquette University
T. Anderson, Eberly College of Science
G. Anton, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
C. Arguëlles, Harvard University
Y. Ashida, University of Wisconsin-Madison
S. Axani, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
X. Bai, South Dakota School of Mines & Technology
A. Balagopal V., University of Wisconsin-Madison
S. W. Barwick, University of California, Irvine
B. Bastian, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY)
V. Basu, University of Wisconsin-Madison
S. Baur, Université Libre de Bruxelles
R. Bay, University of California, Berkeley
J. J. Beatty, The Ohio State University
K. H. Becker, Bergische Universität Wuppertal
J. Becker Tjus, Ruhr-Universitat Bochum

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

5-1-2022

Publication Title

Astrophysical Journal Letters

Volume

930

Issue

2

Abstract

We present the first comprehensive search for high-energy neutrino emission from high- A nd low-mass X-ray binaries conducted by IceCube. Galactic X-ray binaries are long-standing candidates for the source of Galactic hadronic cosmic rays and neutrinos. The compact object in these systems can be the site of cosmic-ray acceleration, and neutrinos can be produced by interactions of cosmic rays with radiation or gas, in the jet of a microquasar, in the stellar wind, or in the atmosphere of the companion star. We study X-ray binaries using 7.5 yr of IceCube data with three separate analyses. In the first, we search for periodic neutrino emission from 55 binaries in the Northern Sky with known orbital periods. In the second, the X-ray light curves of 102 binaries across the entire sky are used as templates to search for time-dependent neutrino emission. Finally, we search for time-integrated emission of neutrinos for a list of 4 notable binaries identified as microquasars. In the absence of a significant excess, we place upper limits on the neutrino flux for each hypothesis and compare our results with theoretical predictions for several binaries. In addition, we evaluate the sensitivity of the next generation neutrino telescope at the South Pole, IceCube-Gen2, and demonstrate its power to identify potential neutrino emission from these binary sources in the Galaxy.

Identifier

85130741906 (Scopus)

Recommended Citation

Abbasi, R.; Ackermann, M.; Adams, J.; Aguilar, J. A.; Ahlers, M.; Ahrens, M.; Alameddine, J. M.; Alves, A. A.; Amin, N. M.; Andeen, K.; Anderson, T.; Anton, G.; Arguëlles, C.; Ashida, Y.; Axani, S.; Bai, X.; V., A. Balagopal; Barwick, S. W.; Bastian, B.; Basu, V.; Baur, S.; Bay, R.; Beatty, J. J.; Becker, K. H.; and Tjus, J. Becker, "Search for High-energy Neutrino Emission from Galactic X-Ray Binaries with IceCube" (2022). Physics: Faculty Publications and Other Works. 84.
https://ecommons.luc.edu/physics_facpubs/84