Search for Galactic Core-collapse Supernovae in a Decade of Data Taken with the IceCube Neutrino Observatory


Abbasi R., Ackermann M., Adams J., Agarwalla S. K., Aguilar J. A., Ahlers M., ...More

ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL, vol.961, no.1, 2024 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 961 Issue: 1
  • Publication Date: 2024
  • Doi Number: 10.3847/1538-4357/ad07d1
  • Journal Name: ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, Aerospace Database, INSPEC, zbMATH, Directory of Open Access Journals, DIALNET
  • Middle East Technical University Affiliated: No

Abstract

The IceCube Neutrino Observatory has been continuously taking data to search for O(0.5-10) s long neutrino bursts since 2007. Even if a Galactic core-collapse supernova is optically obscured or collapses to a black hole instead of exploding, it will be detectable via the O(10) MeV neutrino burst emitted during the collapse. We discuss a search for such events covering the time between 2008 April 17 and 2019 December 31. Considering the average data taking and analysis uptime of 91.7% after all selection cuts, this is equivalent to 10.735 yr of continuous data taking. In order to test the most conservative neutrino production scenario, the selection cuts were optimized for a model based on an 8.8 solar mass progenitor collapsing to an O-Ne-Mg core. Conservative assumptions on the effects of neutrino oscillations in the exploding star were made. The final selection cut was set to ensure that the probability to detect such a supernova within the Milky Way exceeds 99%. No such neutrino burst was found in the data after performing a blind analysis. Hence, a 90% C.L. upper limit on the rate of core-collapse supernovae out to distances of approximate to 25 kpc was determined to be 0.23 yr-1. For the more distant Magellanic Clouds, only high neutrino luminosity supernovae will be detectable by IceCube, unless external information on the burst time is available. We determined a model-independent limit by parameterizing the dependence on the neutrino luminosity and the energy spectrum.