Optical and X-ray early follow-up of ANTARES neutrino alerts

S. Adrian Martinez, M. Ageron; Albert, A.; Samarai, I. Al; Andre, M.; Anton, G.; Ardid, M.; Aubert, J. J.; Baret, B.; Barrios Marti, J.; Basa, S.; Bertin, V.; Biagi, S.; Bogazzi, C.; Bormuth, R.; Bou Cabo, M.; Bouwhuis, M. C.; Bruijn, R.; Brunner, J.; Busto, J.; Capone, Antonio; Caramete, L.; Carr, J.; Chiarusi, T.; Circella, M.; Coniglione, R.; Costantini, H.; Coyle, P.; Creusot, A.; Dekeyser, I.; Deschamps, A.; Bonis, G. De; Distefano, C.; Donzaud, C.; Dornic, D.; Drouhin, D.; Dumas, A.; Eberl, T.; Elsasser, D.; Enzenhofer, A.; Fehn, K.; Felis, I.; Fermani, Paolo; Folger, F.; Fusco, L. A.; Galata, S.; Gay, P.; Geißelsoder, S.; Geyer, K.; Giordano, V.; Gleixner, A.; Gracia Ruiz, R.; Graf, K.; Haren, H. van; Heijboer, A. J.; Hello, Y.; Hernandez Rey, J. J.; Herrero, A.; Hoßl, J.; Hofestadt, J.; Hugon, C.; James, C. W; Jong, M. de; Kadler, M.; Kalekin, O.; Katz, U.; Kießling, D.; Kooijman, P.; Kouchner, A.; Kreykenbohm, I.; Kulikovskiy, V.; Lahmann, R.; Lambard, G.; Lattuada, D.; Lefevre, D.; Leonora, E.; Loucatos, S.; Mangano, S.; Marcelin, M.; Margiotta, A.; Martinez Mora, J. A.; Martini, S.; Mathieu, A.; Michael, T.; Migliozzi, P.; Moussa, A.; Mueller, C.; Neff, M.; Nezri, E.; Pavalas, G. E.; Pellegrino, C.; Perrina, Chiara; Piattelli, P.; Popa, V.; Pradier, T.; Racca, C.; Riccobene, G.; Richter, R.; Roensch, K.; Rostovtsev, A.; Saldana, M.; Samtleben, D. F. E.; Sanguineti, M.; Sapienza, P.; Schmid, J.; Schnabel, J.; Schulte, S.; Schüssler, F.; Seitz, T.; Sieger, C.; Spurio, M.; Steijger, J. J. M.; Stolarczyk, T. h.; Sanchez Losa, A.; Taiuti, M.; Tamburini, C.; Trovato, A.; Tselengidou, M.; Tonnis, C.; Turpin, D.; Vallage, B.; Vallee, C.; Elewyck, V. Van; Vecchi, M.; Visser, E.; Vivolo, D.; Wagner, S.; Wilms, J.; Zornoza, J. D.; Zuniga, J.; Klotz, A.; Boer, M.; Suu, A. Le Van; Akerlof, C.; Zheng, W.; Evans, P.; Gehrels, N.; Kennea, J.; Osborne, J. P.

doi:10.1088/1475-7516/2016/02/062

High-energy neutrinos could be produced in the interaction of charged cosmic rays with matter or radiation surrounding astrophysical sources. Even with the recent detection of extraterrestrial high-energy neutrinos by the IceCube experiment, no astrophysical neutrino source has yet been discovered. Transient sources, such as gamma-ray bursts, core-collapse supernovae, or active galactic nuclei are promising candidates. Multi-messenger programs offer a unique opportunity to detect these transient sources. By combining the information provided by the ANTARES neutrino telescope with information coming from other observatories, the probability of detecting a source is enhanced, allowing the possibility of identifying a neutrino progenitor from a single detected event. A method based on optical and X-ray follow-ups of high-energy neutrino alerts has been developed within the ANTARES collaboration. This method does not require any assumptions on the relation between neutrino and photon spectra other than time-correlation. This program, denoted as TAToO, triggers a network of robotic optical telescopes (TAROT and ROTSE) and the Swift-XRT with a delay of only a few seconds after a neutrino detection, and is therefore well-suited to search for fast transient sources. To identify an optical or X-ray counterpart to a neutrino signal, the images provided by the follow-up observations are analysed with dedicated pipelines. A total of 42 alerts with optical and 7 alerts with X-ray images taken with a maximum delay of 24 hours after the neutrino trigger have been analysed. No optical or X-ray counterparts associated to the neutrino triggers have been found, and upper limits on transient source magnitudes have been derived. The probability to reject the gamma-ray burst origin hypothesis has been computed for each alert.

Optical and X-ray early follow-up of ANTARES neutrino alerts / S. Adrian Martinez, M. Ageron; Albert, A.; Samarai, I. Al; Andre, M.; Anton, G.; Ardid, M.; Aubert, J. J.; Baret, B.; Barrios Marti, J.; Basa, S.; Bertin, V.; Biagi, S.; Bogazzi, C.; Bormuth, R.; Bou Cabo, M.; Bouwhuis, M. C.; Bruijn, R.; Brunner, J.; Busto, J.; Capone, Antonio; Caramete, L.; Carr, J.; Chiarusi, T.; Circella, M.; Coniglione, R.; Costantini, H.; Coyle, P.; Creusot, A.; Dekeyser, I.; Deschamps, A.; Bonis, G. De; Distefano, C.; Donzaud, C.; Dornic, D.; Drouhin, D.; Dumas, A.; Eberl, T.; Elsasser, D.; Enzenhofer, A.; Fehn, K.; Felis, I.; Fermani, Paolo; Folger, F.; Fusco, L. A.; Galata, S.; Gay, P.; Geißelsoder, S.; Geyer, K.; Giordano, V.; Gleixner, A.; Gracia Ruiz, R.; Graf, K.; Haren, H. van; Heijboer, A. J.; Hello, Y.; Hernandez Rey, J. J.; Herrero, A.; Hoßl, J.; Hofestadt, J.; Hugon, C.; James, C. W; Jong, M. de; Kadler, M.; Kalekin, O.; Katz, U.; Kießling, D.; Kooijman, P.; Kouchner, A.; Kreykenbohm, I.; Kulikovskiy, V.; Lahmann, R.; Lambard, G.; Lattuada, D.; Lefevre, D.; Leonora, E.; Loucatos, S.; Mangano, S.; Marcelin, M.; Margiotta, A.; Martinez Mora, J. A.; Martini, S.; Mathieu, A.; Michael, T.; Migliozzi, P.; Moussa, A.; Mueller, C.; Neff, M.; Nezri, E.; Pavalas, G. E.; Pellegrino, C.; Perrina, Chiara; Piattelli, P.; Popa, V.; Pradier, T.; Racca, C.; Riccobene, G.; Richter, R.; Roensch, K.; Rostovtsev, A.; Saldana, M.; Samtleben, D. F. E.; Sanguineti, M.; Sapienza, P.; Schmid, J.; Schnabel, J.; Schulte, S.; Schüssler, F.; Seitz, T.; Sieger, C.; Spurio, M.; Steijger, J. J. M.; Stolarczyk, T. h.; Sanchez Losa, A.; Taiuti, M.; Tamburini, C.; Trovato, A.; Tselengidou, M.; Tonnis, C.; Turpin, D.; Vallage, B.; Vallee, C.; Elewyck, V. Van; Vecchi, M.; Visser, E.; Vivolo, D.; Wagner, S.; Wilms, J.; Zornoza, J. D.; Zuniga, J.; Klotz, A.; Boer, M.; Suu, A. Le Van; Akerlof, C.; Zheng, W.; Evans, P.; Gehrels, N.; Kennea, J.; Osborne, J. P.. - In: JOURNAL OF COSMOLOGY AND ASTROPARTICLE PHYSICS. - ISSN 1475-7516. - STAMPA. - 2:62(2016). [10.1088/1475-7516/2016/02/062]