Search for High-energy Neutrinos from Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies with IceCube

Authors

R. Abbasi, Loyola University of ChicagoFollow
M. Ackermann, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY)Follow
J. Adams, University of CanterburyFollow
J. A. Aguilar, Université Libre de BruxellesFollow
M. Ahlers, Niels Bohr InstitutetFollow
M. Ahrens, Stockholms universitet
C. Alispach, Université de GenèveFollow
A. A. Alves, Karlsruher Institut für TechnologieFollow
N. M. Amin, The Bartol Research InstituteFollow
R. An, Harvard UniversityFollow
K. Andeen, Marquette UniversityFollow
T. Anderson, Eberly College of Science
G. Anton, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
C. Argüelles, 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
A. Barbano, Université de Genève
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

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2-1-2022

Publication Title

Astrophysical Journal

Volume

926

Issue

1

Abstract

Ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs) have infrared luminosities L IR ≥ 1012 L ⊙, making them the most luminous objects in the infrared sky. These dusty objects are generally powered by starbursts with star formation rates that exceed 100 M ⊙ yr-1, possibly combined with a contribution from an active galactic nucleus. Such environments make ULIRGs plausible sources of astrophysical high-energy neutrinos, which can be observed by the IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the South Pole. We present a stacking search for high-energy neutrinos from a representative sample of 75 ULIRGs with redshift z ≤ 0.13 using 7.5 yr of IceCube data. The results are consistent with a background-only observation, yielding upper limits on the neutrino flux from these 75 ULIRGs. For an unbroken E -2.5 power-law spectrum, we report an upper limit on the stacked flux φνμ+ν¯μ90%=3.24×10-14TeV-1cm-2s-1(E/10TeV)-2.5 at 90% confidence level. In addition, we constrain the contribution of the ULIRG source population to the observed diffuse astrophysical neutrino flux as well as model predictions.

Identifier

85125859942 (Scopus)

Recommended Citation

Abbasi, R.; Ackermann, M.; Adams, J.; Aguilar, J. A.; Ahlers, M.; Ahrens, M.; Alispach, C.; Alves, A. A.; Amin, N. M.; An, R.; Andeen, K.; Anderson, T.; Anton, G.; Argüelles, C.; Ashida, Y.; Axani, S.; Bai, X.; V., A. Balagopal; Barbano, A.; Barwick, S. W.; Bastian, B.; Basu, V.; Baur, S.; Bay, R.; and Beatty, J. J., "Search for High-energy Neutrinos from Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies with IceCube" (2022). Physics: Faculty Publications and Other Works. 89.
https://ecommons.luc.edu/physics_facpubs/89