6533b834fe1ef96bd129d6c8

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Swift follow-up of IceCube triggers, and implications for the Advanced-LIGO era

M. KowalskiDavid PalmerSebastian BöserJ. A. KenneaN. L. StrotjohannA. StasikNeil GehrelsD. F. CowenJ. M. GelbordA. HomeierM. VogeJ. P. OsborneM. SmithPhil Evans

subject

PhysicsSwiftHigh Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE)Astrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical PhenomenaAstronomyLibrary scienceFOS: Physical sciencesAstronomy and AstrophysicsMethods observationalLIGOSpace and Planetary Scienceddc:520Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomenacomputercomputer.programming_language

description

Between 2011 March and 2014 August Swift responded to 20 triggers from the IceCube neutrino observatory, observing the IceCube 50% confidence error circle in X-rays, typically within 5 hours of the trigger. No confirmed counterpart has been detected. We describe the Swift follow up strategy and data analysis and present the results of the campaign. We discuss the challenges of distinguishing the X-ray counterpart to a neutrino trigger from serendipitous uncatalogued X-ray sources in the error circle, and consider the implications of our results for future strategies for multi-messenger astronomy, with particular reference to the follow up of gravitational wave triggers from the advanced-era detectors.

https://dx.doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1501.04435