Very High-Energy Gamma-Ray Follow-Up Program Using Neutrino Triggers from IceCube

: Published: 14 November 2016

Reference: M.G. Aartsen et al. (The IceCube, MAGIC, and VERITAS Collaborations), JINST 11, 11009 (2016)

VERITAS Contact: Jamie Holder

See the IceCube paper repository here.

This paper describes one of the first attempts at "multimessenger" astronomy, using both neutrinos and gamma-ray photons to observe the Universe. The IceCube neutrino observatory in Antarctica has detected a flux of high energy astrophysical neutrinos, whose origin remains unknown. VERITAS can search for gamma-ray emission associated with the same processes that produce these neutrinos but, if the neutrino source is transient, the VERITAS observations must be carried out as promptly as possible. Starting in 2012, IceCube has been monitoring the locations of roughly 100 known GeV/TeV sources. An excess of neutrino events within a short period was used to generate an alert to VERITAS, which triggered follow-up gamma-ray observations. No gamma-ray signals were observed in this study, but the search is ongoing, with more sophisticated algorithms already in place.

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