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We report the first observational search for tau neutrinos from gamma ray bursts (GRBs) using one of the Ashra light collectors. The earth-skimming tau-neutrino technique of imaging Cherenkov tau showers was applied as a detection method. We set stringent upper limits on the tau-neutrino fluence in PeV-EeV region for 3780 s (between 2.83 and 1.78 hours before) and another 3780 s (between 21.2 and 22.2 hours after) surrounding GRB081203A triggered by the Swift satellite. This first search for PeV-EeV tau neutrino complements other experiments in energy range and methodology, and suggests the prologue of multi-particle astronomy with a precise determination of time and location.
Gamma-ray induced air showers are notable for their lack of muons, compared to hadronic showers. Hence, air shower arrays with large underground muon detectors can select a sample greatly enriched in photon showers by rejecting showers containing muons. IceCube is sensitive to muons with energies above ~500 GeV at the surface, which provides an efficient veto system for hadronic air showers with energies above 1 PeV. One year of data from the 40-string IceCube configuration was used to perform a search for point sources and a Galactic diffuse signal. No sources were found, resulting in a 90% C.L. upper limit on the ratio of gamma rays to cosmic rays of 1.2 x 10^(-3)for the flux coming from the Galactic Plane region (-80 deg < l < -30 deg; -10 deg < b < 5 deg) in the energy range 1.2 - 6.0 PeV. In the same energy range, point source fluxes with E^(-2) spectra have been excluded at a level of (E/TeV)^2 dPhi/dE ~ 10^(-12)-10^(-11) cm^2/s/TeV depending on source declination. The complete IceCube detector will have a better sensitivity, due to the larger detector size, improved reconstruction and vetoing techniques. Preliminary data from the nearly-final IceCube detector configuration has been used to estimate the 5 year sensitivity of the full detector. It is found to be more than an order of magnitude better, allowing the search for PeV extensions of known TeV gamma-ray emitters.
A search for tau neutrino induced showers with the MAGIC telescopes is presented. The MAGIC telescopes located at an altitude of 2200 m a.s.l. in the Canary Island of La Palma, can point towards the horizon or a few degrees below across an azimuthal range of about 80 degrees. This provides a possibility to search for air showers induced by tau leptons arising from interactions of tau neutrinos in the Earth crust or the surrounding ocean. In this paper we show how such air showers can be discriminated from the background of very inclined hadronic showers by using Monte Carlo simulations. Taking into account the orography of the site, the point source acceptance and the event rates expected have been calculated for a sample of generic neutrino fluxes from photo-hadronic interactions in AGNs. The analysis of about 30 hours of data taken towards the sealeads to a 90% C.L. point source limit for tau neutrinos in the energy range from $1.0 times 10^{15}$ eV to $3.0 times 10^{18}$ eV of about $E_{ u_{tau}}^{2}times phi (E_{ u_{tau}}) < 2.0 times 10^{-4}$ GeV cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$ for an assumed power-law neutrino spectrum with spectral index $gamma$=-2. However, with 300 hours and in case of an optimistic neutrino flare model, limits of the level down to $E_{ u_{tau}}^{2}times phi (E_{ u_{tau}}) < 8.4 times 10^{-6}$ GeV cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$ can be expected.
Blazars are potential candidates of cosmic-ray acceleration up to ultrahigh energies ($Egtrsim10^{18}$ eV). For an efficient cosmic-ray injection from blazars, $pgamma$ collisions with the extragalactic background light (EBL) and cosmic microwave background (CMB) can produce neutrino spectrum peaks near PeV and EeV energies, respectively. We analyze the contribution of these neutrinos to the diffuse background measured by the IceCube neutrino observatory. The fraction of neutrino luminosity originating from individual redshift ranges is calculated using the distribution of BL Lacs and FSRQs provided in the textit{Fermi}-LAT 4LAC catalog. Furthermore, we use a luminosity dependent density evolution to find the neutrino flux from unresolved blazars. The results obtained in our model indicate that as much as $approx10%$ of the flux upper bound at a few PeV energies can arise from cosmic-ray interactions on EBL. The same interactions will also produce secondary electrons and photons, initiating electromagnetic cascades. The resultant photon spectrum is limited by the isotropic diffuse $gamma$-ray flux measured between 100 MeV and 820 GeV. The latter, together with the observed cosmic-ray flux at $E>10^{16.5}$ eV, can constrain the baryonic loading factor depending on the maximum cosmic-ray acceleration energy.
Cosmic rays in the energy range $10^{18.0}$ - $10^{18.5}$ eV are thought to have a light, probably protonic, composition. To study their origin one can search for anisotropy in their arrival directions. Extragalactic cosmic rays should be isotropic, but galactic cosmic rays of this type should be seen mostly along the galactic plane, and there should be a shortage of events coming from directions near the galactic anticenter. This is due to the fact that, under the influence of the galactic magnetic field, the transition from ballistic to diffusive behavior is well advanced, and this qualitative picture persists over the whole energy range. Guided by models of the galactic magnetic field that indicate that the enhancement along the galactic plane should have a standard deviation of about 20$^circ$ in galactic latitude, and the deficit in the galactic anticenter direction should have a standard deviation of about 50$^circ$ in galactic longitude, we use the data of the Telescope Array surface detector in $10^{18.0}$ to $10^{18.5}$ eV energy range to search for these effects. The data are isotropic. Neither an enhancement along the galactic plane nor a deficit in the galactic anticenter direction is found. Using these data we place an upper limit on the fraction of EeV cosmic rays of galactic origin at 1.3% at 95% confidence level.
Carpet-2 is an air-shower array at Baksan Valley, Russia, equipped with a large-area (175 m^2) muon detector, which makes it possible to separate primary photons from hadrons. We report the first results of the search for primary photons with energies E_gamma>1 PeV, directionally associated with IceCube high-energy neutrino events, in the data obtained in 3080 days of Carpet-2 live time.