Bulletin of the American Physical Society
2014 Annual Meeting of the Mid-Atlantic Section of the APS
Volume 59, Number 9
Friday–Sunday, October 3–5, 2014; University Park, Pennsylvania
Session H3: Neutrino Astrophysics, Multimessenger Astrophysics and TeV Astronomy |
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Chair: Paul Sommers, Pennsylvania State University Room: Life Sciences Building 005 |
Sunday, October 5, 2014 9:00AM - 9:36AM |
H3.00001: Cosmic Neutrinos in IceCube Invited Speaker: Erik Blaufuss High energy neutrinos are unique messengers, traveling cosmic distances without being absorbed or deflected, that offer a new perspective on the high-energy universe. The IceCube neutrino observatory, now in operation at the geographic South Pole, instruments a cubic kilometer of Antarctic ice as a high-energy neutrino detector. This talk will summarize recent observations that have offered evidence of a high-energy extraterrestrial signal beyond the atmospheric particle backgrounds and explore future prospects for continued observations with IceCube. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, October 5, 2014 9:36AM - 9:48AM |
H3.00002: Discovery Space and Motivations for a Multimessenger Observatory Network Derek Fox We present the science case, including illustrative simulations, motivating construction of a multimessenger observatory network linking the world's leading high-energy electromagnetic, neutrino, cosmic ray, and gravitational wave facilities. As currently being realized at Penn State, the Astrophysical Multimessenger Observatory Network (AMON) will carry out real-time coincidence searches for multimessenger astrophysical transients and distribute the resulting ``AMON alerts'' to interested parties for follow-up observation. In this way, AMON aims to evoke the discovery of multimessenger transients from observatory subthreshold data streams, and facilitate the exploitation of these transients for purposes of astronomy and fundamental physics. I will present the results of three simulated case studies of AMON analyses which explore: (1) The expected efficiency improvements for triggered searches for the counterparts to jointly-emitting neutrino + gamma-ray sources; (2) The expected gains to be realized in searches for joint sources of gravitational waves and high-energy neutrinos; and (3) The discovery potential of AMON for primordial black hole evaporation events. Distribution of the first neutrino + gamma-ray AMON alerts is currently anticipated for mid-2015. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, October 5, 2014 9:48AM - 10:00AM |
H3.00003: The Astrophysical Multimessenger Observatory Network (AMON) Gordana Te\v{s}i\'c The Astrophysical Multimessenger Observatory Network (AMON) aims to use the messenger particles of all four fundamental forces in order to discover energetic transient phenomena that would be extremely difficult to detect by any single observatory alone. AMON will link together several current and future high-energy (neutrino, cosmic and gamma-ray) and gravitational wave observatories into a single system with higher combined sensitivity than that of any participating experiment alone. We present the scientific motivation, design elements, and current and projected partner observatories of the AMON network. This project is being developed at Penn State, where it was initially funded internally. Currently, AMON is an official NSF particle astrophysics project. Signatories to the AMON Memorandum of Understanding include the IceCube and ANTARES neutrino observatories, the HAWC and VERITAS gamma-ray observatories, the Pierre Auger Cosmic Ray Observatory, and the Swift orbital telescope. AMON is an open network seeking for new triggering and follow-up observatories, as well as for collaborators interested in the AMON scientific goals. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, October 5, 2014 10:00AM - 10:12AM |
H3.00004: AMON Archival Searches for Jointly-Emitting Neutrino + Gamma-Ray Transients Azadeh Keivani The Astrophysical Multimessenger Observatory Network (AMON), currently under development at Penn State, aims to create a single network in search of multimessenger transients. This network will link the world's most sensitive high-energy electromagnetic, neutrino, and cosmic ray observatories, as well as gravitational wave facilities. As a demonstration of the capabilities of an AMON real-time system, and in order to explore potential multimessenger signals, we have carried out archival analyses comparing public neutrino data from the 40-string configuration of IceCube (IC40) with contemporaneous public gamma-ray data from Fermi LAT and Swift. Our analyses have the potential to discover statistically significant coincidences between high energy neutrinos and gamma ray signals, and hence, possible jointly-emitting neutrino/gamma ray transients. In addition, our analyses were used to validate our understanding of the component datasets and to explore different candidate statistical approaches to generating AMON alerts for the network's follow-up partners. During the talk I will present the component high-energy neutrino and gamma-ray datasets, the statistical approaches that we used, and the results of analyses of the IC40+LAT and IC40+Swift datasets. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, October 5, 2014 10:12AM - 10:24AM |
H3.00005: Hypernovae and Starbursts as Multimessenger High-Energy Sources Nicholas Senno, Philipp Baerwald, Peter Meszaros Recently the IceCube collaboration reported its first detection of high-energy (30 TeV -- 2 PeV) neutrinos that may have been produced in astrophysical events, thus ushering in a new paradigm for the way we view the universe. We investigate the contribution of hypernovae (HNe) in starburst and normal star-forming galaxies to the diffuse flux of PeV cosmic rays, MeV-TeV $\gamma $-rays, and TeV neutrinos by numerically solving the Boltzmann transport equation. Cosmic rays produce $\gamma $-rays and neutrinos when they interact with ambient matter. Diffusion of the cosmic rays amplifies the amount of $\gamma $-rays and neutrinos that are produced in general. We consider cosmic ray propagation and subsequent neutrino production in both the hypernovae host galaxies and intergalactic space. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, October 5, 2014 10:24AM - 10:36AM |
H3.00006: Near Real-Time Compact Binary Merger Gravitational Wave Searches with Advanced LIGO Cody Messick, Kipp Cannon, Ryan Everett, Miguel Fernandez, Chad Hanna With Advanced LIGO nearly ready for a science run in late 2015, the Compact Binary Coalescence(CBC) group within the LIGO Scientific Collaboration (LSC) is planning near real-time searches for compact binary mergers with plans to partner with astronomers for rapid follow-up of candidate signals. I will discuss a new low latency analysis pipeline which decreases the latency of compact binary merger detection from O(1) hour to O(1) minute. In addition, the current status of development and prospects for the next few years of time-domain gravitational wave astronomy and astrophysics will be provided. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, October 5, 2014 10:36AM - 10:48AM |
H3.00007: The High Altitude Water Cherenkov Observatory Kelly Malone The High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Gamma-Ray Observatory, located at an altitude of 4100m on the Sierra Negra plateau in Mexico, is a second-generation experiment designed to observe TeV gamma rays and cosmic rays from air showers. It consists of a large array of water Cherenkov detectors, each of which is equipped with 4 PMTs. Data collection began in 2012 with a partially built detector. The full 300-detector array will be deployed by December 2014. HAWC's large field of view ($\sim$ 2 sr) and high duty cycle (\textgreater 90\%) makes it well suited to observe gamma ray bursts, diffuse emission from the galactic plane, AGN, the cosmic ray anisotropy, and other transient and extended sources. I will present the observatory, scientific motivation and current status of the deployment. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, October 5, 2014 10:48AM - 11:00AM |
H3.00008: First Results from the High Altitude Water Cherenkov Observatory John Pretz The field of TeV astronomy has been rapidly expanding since the first detection of TeV photons from the Crab Nebula by the Whipple Observatory in 1989. There are currently more than 150 known TeV sources including Pulsar Wind Nebulae, Supernova Remnants, Active Galactic Nuclei, Galactic Binaries and Starburst Galaxies. Furthermore, extended emission from the Galactic Plane itself has been observed. The TeV emission from sources illuminates the highest-energy particle populations in these objects, elucidating leptonic and hadronic processes, as well as serving as a probe for new physics. The High Altitude Water Cherenkov Observatory is a new instrument for TeV astronomy. With a wide field of view and continuous observation, the instrument is being used to map the Northern sky at high sensitivity and search for transient emission. I will present results from the first year of operation of the partially-completed observatory. [Preview Abstract] |
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