Skip to main navigation Skip to search Skip to main content

Evidence for Astrophysical Muon Neutrinos from the Northern Sky with IceCube

  • M. G. Aartsen
  • , K. Abraham
  • , M. Ackermann
  • , J. Adams
  • , J. A. Aguilar
  • , M. Ahlers
  • , M. Ahrens
  • , D. Altmann
  • , T. Anderson
  • , M. Archinger
  • , C. Arguelles
  • , T. C. Arlen
  • , J. Auffenberg
  • , X. Bai
  • , S. W. Barwick
  • , V. Baum
  • , R. Bay
  • , J. J. Beatty
  • , J. Becker Tjus
  • , K. H. Becker
  • E. Beiser, S. Benzvi, P. Berghaus, D. Berley, E. Bernardini, A. Bernhard, D. Z. Besson, G. Binder, D. Bindig, M. Bissok, E. Blaufuss, J. Blumenthal, D. J. Boersma, C. Bohm, M. Börner, F. Bos, D. Bose, S. Böser, O. Botner, J. Braun, L. Brayeur, H. P. Bretz, A. M. Brown, N. Buzinsky, J. Casey, M. Casier, E. Cheung, D. Chirkin, A. Christov, B. Christy, K. Clark, L. Classen, S. Coenders, D. F. Cowen, A. H.Cruz Silva, J. Daughhetee, J. C. Davis, M. Day, J. P.A.M. De André, C. De Clercq, H. Dembinski, S. De Ridder, P. Desiati, K. D. De Vries, G. De Wasseige, M. De With, T. DeYoung, J. C. Díaz-Vélez, J. P. Dumm, M. Dunkman, R. Eagan, B. Eberhardt, T. Ehrhardt, B. Eichmann, S. Euler, P. A. Evenson, O. Fadiran, S. Fahey, A. R. Fazely, A. Fedynitch, J. Feintzeig, J. Felde, K. Filimonov, C. Finley, T. Fischer-Wasels, S. Flis, T. Fuchs, M. Glagla, T. K. Gaisser, R. Gaior, J. Gallagher, L. Gerhardt, K. Ghorbani, D. Gier, L. Gladstone, T. Glüsenkamp, A. Goldschmidt, G. Golup, J. G. Gonzalez, J. A. Goodman, D. Góra, D. Grant, P. Gretskov, J. C. Groh, A. Groß, C. Ha, C. Haack, A. Haj Ismail, A. Hallgren, F. Halzen, B. Hansmann, K. Hanson, D. Hebecker, D. Heereman, K. Helbing, R. Hellauer, D. Hellwig, S. Hickford, J. Hignight, G. C. Hill, K. D. Hoffman, R. Hoffmann, K. Holzapfe, A. Homeier, K. Hoshina, F. Huang, M. Huber, W. Huelsnitz, P. O. Hulth, K. Hultqvist, S. In, A. Ishihara, E. Jacobi, G. S. Japaridze, K. Jero, M. Jurkovic, B. Kaminsky, A. Kappes, T. Karg, A. Karle, M. Kauer, A. Keivani, J. L. Kelley, J. Kemp, A. Kheirandish, J. Kiryluk, J. Kläs, S. R. Klein, G. Kohnen, H. Kolanoski, R. Konietz, A. Koob, L. Köpke, C. Kopper, S. Kopper, D. J. Koskinen, M. Kowalski, K. Krings, G. Kroll, M. Kroll, J. Kunnen, N. Kurahashi, T. Kuwabara, M. Labare, J. L. Lanfranchi, M. J. Larson, M. Lesiak-Bzdak, M. Leuermann, J. Leuner, J. Lünemann, J. Madsen, G. Maggi, K. B.M. Mahn, R. Maruyama, K. Mase, H. S. Matis, R. Maunu, F. McNally, K. Meagher, M. Medici, A. Meli, T. Menne, G. Merino, T. Meures, S. Miarecki, E. Middell, E. Middlemas, J. Miller, L. Mohrmann, T. Montaruli, R. Morse, R. Nahnhauer, U. Naumann, H. Niederhausen, S. C. Nowicki, D. R. Nygren, A. Obertacke, A. Olivas, A. Omairat, A. O'Murchadha, T. Palczewski, L. Paul, J. A. Pepper, C. Pérez De Los Heros, C. Pfendner, D. Pieloth, E. Pinat, J. Posselt, P. B. Price, G. T. Przybylski, J. Pütz, M. Quinnan, L. Rädel, M. Rameez, K. Rawlins, P. Redl, R. Reimann, M. Relich, E. Resconi, W. Rhode, M. Richman, S. Richter, B. Riedel, S. Robertson, M. Rongen, C. Rott, T. Ruhe, B. Ruzybayev, D. Ryckbosch, S. M. Saba, L. Sabbatini, H. G. Sander, A. Sandrock, J. Sandroos, S. Sarkar, K. Schatto, F. Scheriau, M. Schimp, T. Schmidt, M. Schmitz, S. Schoenen, S. Schöneberg, A. Schönwald, A. Schukraft, L. Schulte, D. Seckel, S. Seunarine, R. Shanidze, M. W.E. Smith, D. Soldin, G. M. Spiczak, C. Spiering, M. Stahlberg, M. Stamatikos, T. Stanev, N. A. Stanisha, A. Stasik, T. Stezelberger, R. G. Stokstad, A. Stößl, E. A. Strahler, R. Ström, N. L. Strotjohann, G. W. Sullivan, M. Sutherland, H. Taavola, I. Taboada, S. Ter-Antonyan, A. Terliuk, G. Tešić, S. Tilav, P. A. Toale, M. N. Tobin, D. Tosi, M. Tselengidou, E. Unger, M. Usner, S. Vallecorsa, N. Van Eijndhoven, J. Vandenbroucke, J. Van Santen, S. Vanheule, J. Veenkamp, M. Vehring, M. Voge, M. Vraeghe, C. Walck, M. Wallraff, N. Wandkowsky, C. Weaver, C. Wendt, S. Westerhoff, B. J. Whelan, N. Whitehorn, C. Wichary, K. Wiebe, C. H. Wiebusch, L. Wille, D. R. Williams, H. Wissing, M. Wolf, T. R. Wood, K. Woschnagg, D. L. Xu, X. W. Xu, Y. Xu, J. P. Yanez, G. Yodh, S. Yoshida, P. Zarzhitsky, M. Zoll
  • University of Adelaide
  • Technical University of Munich
  • German Electron Synchrotron
  • University of Canterbury
  • Université libre de Bruxelles
  • University of Wisconsin-Madison
  • Stockholm University
  • Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg
  • Pennsylvania State University
  • Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
  • RWTH Aachen University
  • South Dakota School of Mines & Technology
  • University of California at Irvine
  • University of California at Berkeley
  • Ohio State University
  • Ruhr University Bochum
  • University of Wuppertal
  • University of Maryland
  • University of Kansas
  • Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
  • Uppsala University
  • TU Dortmund University
  • Sungkyunkwan University
  • Vrije Universiteit Brussel
  • University of Alberta
  • Georgia Institute of Technology
  • University of Geneva
  • University of Toronto
  • Michigan State University
  • University of Delaware
  • Ghent University
  • Humboldt University of Berlin
  • Southern University and A&M College
  • Chiba University
  • University of Bonn
  • Clark Atlanta University
  • Yale University
  • Stony Brook University
  • Universite de Mons
  • University of Copenhagen
  • Drexel University
  • University of Wisconsin-River Falls
  • Department of Physics and Astronomy
  • University of Alaska Anchorage
  • University of Oxford

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

335 Scopus citations

Abstract

Results from the IceCube Neutrino Observatory have recently provided compelling evidence for the existence of a high energy astrophysical neutrino flux utilizing a dominantly Southern Hemisphere data set consisting primarily of νe and ντ charged-current and neutral-current (cascade) neutrino interactions. In the analysis presented here, a data sample of approximately 35000 muon neutrinos from the Northern sky is extracted from data taken during 659.5 days of live time recorded between May 2010 and May 2012. While this sample is composed primarily of neutrinos produced by cosmic ray interactions in Earth's atmosphere, the highest energy events are inconsistent with a hypothesis of solely terrestrial origin at 3.7σ significance. These neutrinos can, however, be explained by an astrophysical flux per neutrino flavor at a level of Φ(Eν)=9.9-3.4+3.9×10-19GeV-1cm-2sr-1s-1(Eν/100TeV)-2, consistent with IceCube's Southern-Hemisphere-dominated result. Additionally, a fit for an astrophysical flux with an arbitrary spectral index is performed. We find a spectral index of 2.2-0.2+0.2, which is also in good agreement with the Southern Hemisphere result.

Original languageEnglish
Article number081102
JournalPhysical Review Letters
Volume115
Issue number8
DOIs
StatePublished - 20 Aug 2015
Externally publishedYes

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Evidence for Astrophysical Muon Neutrinos from the Northern Sky with IceCube'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this