Abstract
A recent analysis of cosmic ray air showers observed at the Pierre Auger Observatory indicates that nearby starburst galaxies (SBGs) might be the cause of ∼10% of the Ultra-High-Energy Cosmic Ray flux at energies E > 39 EeV . Since high energy neutrinos are a direct product of cosmic ray interactions, we investigate SBGs as a possible source of some of the ∼ 10-2-1 PeV neutrinos observed at IceCube. A statistical analysis is performed to establish the degree of positional correlation between the observed neutrinos and a set of 45 nearby radio- and infrared-bright SBGs. Our results are consistent with no causal correlation. However, a scenario where ∼ 10% of the High Energy Starting Events (HESE) in the detector are coming from the candidate SBGs is not excluded. The same conclusion is reached for different data subsets, as well as two different subsets of SBGs motivated by the Pierre Auger Observatory analysis.
Original language | English (US) |
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Article number | 073 |
Journal | Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics |
Volume | 2019 |
Issue number | 10 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Oct 30 2019 |
Keywords
- neutrino astronomy
- neutrino detectors
- star formation
- ultra high energy cosmic rays
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Astronomy and Astrophysics