arXiv subjects

A. Margiotta

Publications and source records attributed to A. Margiotta.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2017

An algorithm for the reconstruction of high-energy neutrino-induced particle showers and its application to the ANTARES neutrino telescope

A novel algorithm to reconstruct neutrino-induced particle showers within the ANTARES neutrino telescope is presented. The method achieves a median angular resolution of $6^\circ$ for shower energies below 100 TeV. Applying this algorithm to 6 years of data taken with the ANTARES detector, 8 events with reconstructed shower energies above 10 TeV are observed. This is consistent with the expectation of about 5 events from atmospheric backgrounds, but also compatible with diffuse astrophysical flux measurements by the IceCube collaboration, from which 2 - 4 additional events are expected. A 90% C.L. upper limit on the diffuse astrophysical neutrino flux with a value per neutrino flavour of $E^2\cdot Φ^{90\%} = 4.9 \cdot 10^{-8}$ GeV $\cdot$ cm$^{-2} \cdot$ s$^{-1} \cdot$ sr$^{-1}$ is set, applicable to the energy range from 23 TeV to 7.8 PeV, assuming an unbroken $E^{-2}$ spectrum and neutrino flavour equipartition at Earth.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2017

Search for High-energy Neutrinos from Gravitational Wave Event GW151226 and Candidate LVT151012 with ANTARES and IceCube

The Advanced LIGO observatories detected gravitational waves from two binary black hole mergers during their first observation run (O1). We present a high-energy neutrino follow-up search for the second gravitational wave event, GW151226, as well as for gravitational wave candidate LVT151012. We find 2 and 4 neutrino candidates detected by IceCube, and 1 and 0 detected by ANTARES, within $\pm500$ s around the respective gravitational wave signals, consistent with the expected background rate. None of these neutrino candidates are found to be directionally coincident with GW151226 or LVT151012. We use non-detection to constrain isotropic-equivalent high-energy neutrino emission from GW151226 adopting the GW event's 3D localization, to less than $2\times 10^{51}-2\times10^{54}$ erg.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2017

Search for Dark Matter Annihilation in the Earth using the ANTARES Neutrino Telescope

A search for a neutrino signal from WIMP pair annihilations in the centre of the Earth has been performed with the data collected with the ANTARES neutrino telescope from 2007 to 2012. The event selection criteria have been developed and tuned to maximise the sensitivity of the experiment to such a neutrino signal. No significant excess of neutrinos over the expected background has been observed. Upper limits at $90\%$ C.L. on the WIMP annihilation rate in the Earth and the spin independent scattering cross-section of WIMPs to nucleons $σ^{SI}_p$ were calculated for WIMP pair annihilations into either $τ^{+}τ^{-}$, $W^+W^-$, $b\overline{b}$ or the non-SUSY $ν_μ\barν_μ$ as a function of the WIMP mass (between $25\,\mathrm{GeV/c^2}$ and $1000\,\mathrm{GeV/c^2}$) and as a function of the thermally averaged annihilation cross section times velocity $\langleσ_{A} v\rangle_{Earth}$ of the WIMPs in the centre of the Earth. For masses of the WIMP close to the mass of iron nuclei ($50\,\mathrm{GeV/c^2}$), the obtained limits on $σ^{SI}_p$ are more stringent than those obtained by other indirect searches.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2017

Search for high-energy neutrinos from bright GRBs with ANTARES

Gamma-ray bursts are thought to be sites of hadronic acceleration, thus neutrinos are expected from the decay of charged particles, produced in pγ interactions. The methods and results of a search for muon neutrinos in the data of the ANTARES neutrino telescope from four bright GRBs (GRB 080916C, GRB 110918A, GRB 130427A and GRB 130505A) observed between 2008 and 2013 are presented. Two scenarios of the fireball model have been investigated: the internal shock scenario, leading to the production of neutrinos with energies mainly above 100 TeV, and the photospheric scenario, characterised by a low-energy component in neutrino spectra due to the assumption of neutrino production closer to the central engine. Since no neutrino events have been detected in temporal and spatial coincidence with these bursts, upper limits at 90% C.L. on the expected neutrino fluxes are derived. The non-detection allows for directly constraining the bulk Lorentz factor of the jet Γ and the baryon loading fp.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2017

Time-dependent search for neutrino emission from x-ray binaries with the ANTARES telescope

ANTARES is currently the largest neutrino telescope operating in the Northern Hemisphere, aiming at the detection of high-energy neutrinos from astrophysical sources. Neutrino telescopes constantly monitor at least one complete hemisphere of the sky, and are thus well-suited to detect neutrinos produced in transient astrophysical sources. A timedependent search has been applied to a list of 33 x-ray binaries undergoing high flaring activities in satellite data (RXTE/ASM, MAXI and Swift/BAT) and during hardness transition states in the 2008-2012 period. The background originating from interactions of charged cosmic rays in the Earth's atmosphere is drastically reduced by requiring a directional and temporal coincidence with astrophysical phenomena. The results of this search are presented together with comparisons between the neutrino flux upper limits and the neutrino flux predictions from astrophysical models. The neutrino flux upper limits resulting from this search limit the jet parameter predictions for some astrophysical models.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2017

Search for Sterile Neutrinos in the Muon Neutrino Disappearance Mode at FNAL

The NESSiE Collaboration has been setup to undertake a conclusive experiment to clarify the {\em muon--neutrino disappearance} measurements at short baselines in order to put severe constraints to models with more than the three--standard neutrinos. To this aim the current FNAL--Booster neutrino beam for a Short--Baseline experiment was carefully evaluated by considering the use of magnetic spectrometers at two sites, near and far ones. The detector locations were studied, together with the achievable performances of two OPERA--like spectrometers. The study was constrained by the availability of existing hardware and a time--schedule compatible with the undergoing project of multi--site Liquid--Argon detectors at FNAL. The settled physics case and the kind of proposed experiment on the Booster neutrino beam would definitively clarify the existing tension between the $ν_μ$ disappearance and the $ν_e$ appearance/disappearance at the eV mass scale. In the context of neutrino oscillations the measurement of $ν_μ$ disappearance is a robust and fast approach to either reject or discover new neutrino states at the eV mass scale. We discuss an experimental program able to extend by more than one order of magnitude (for neutrino disappearance) and by almost one order of magnitude (for antineutrino disappearance) the present range of sensitivity for the mixing angle between standard and sterile neutrinos. These extensions are larger than those achieved in any other proposal presented so far.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2017

Search for magnetic monopoles with the MoEDAL forward trapping detector in 13 TeV proton-proton collisions at the LHC

MoEDAL is designed to identify new physics in the form of long-lived highly-ionising particles produced in high-energy LHC collisions. Its arrays of plastic nuclear-track detectors and aluminium trapping volumes provide two independent passive detection techniques. We present here the results of a first search for magnetic monopole production in 13 TeV proton-proton collisions using the trapping technique, extending a previous publication with 8 TeV data during LHC run-1. A total of 222 kg of MoEDAL trapping detector samples was exposed in the forward region and analysed by searching for induced persistent currents after passage through a superconducting magnetometer. Magnetic charges exceeding half the Dirac charge are excluded in all samples and limits are placed for the first time on the production of magnetic monopoles in 13 TeV $pp$ collisions. The search probes mass ranges previously inaccessible to collider experiments for up to five times the Dirac charge.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2016

Stacked search for time shifted high energy neutrinos from gamma ray bursts with the ANTARES neutrino telescope

A search for high-energy neutrino emission correlated with gamma-ray bursts outside the electromagnetic prompt-emission time window is presented. Using a stacking approach of the time delays between reported gamma-ray burst alerts and spatially coincident muon-neutrino signatures, data from the Antares neutrino telescope recorded between 2007 and 2012 are analysed. One year of public data from the IceCube detector between 2008 and 2009 have been also investigated. The respective timing profiles are scanned for statistically significant accumulations within 40 days of the Gamma Ray Burst, as expected from Lorentz Invariance Violation effects and some astrophysical models. No significant excess over the expected accidental coincidence rate could be found in either of the two data sets. The average strength of the neutrino signal is found to be fainter than one detectable neutrino signal per hundred gamma-ray bursts in the Antares data at 90% confidence level.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2016

Search for magnetic monopoles with the MoEDAL prototype trapping detector in 8 TeV proton-proton collisions at the LHC

The MoEDAL experiment is designed to search for magnetic monopoles and other highly-ionising particles produced in high-energy collisions at the LHC. The largely passive MoEDAL detector, deployed at Interaction Point 8 on the LHC ring, relies on two dedicated direct detection techniques. The first technique is based on stacks of nuclear-track detectors with surface area $\sim$18 m$^2$, sensitive to particle ionisation exceeding a high threshold. These detectors are analysed offline by optical scanning microscopes. The second technique is based on the trapping of charged particles in an array of roughly 800 kg of aluminium samples. These samples are monitored offline for the presence of trapped magnetic charge at a remote superconducting magnetometer facility. We present here the results of a search for magnetic monopoles using a 160 kg prototype MoEDAL trapping detector exposed to 8 TeV proton-proton collisions at the LHC, for an integrated luminosity of 0.75 fb$^{-1}$. No magnetic charge exceeding $0.5g_{\rm D}$ (where $g_{\rm D}$ is the Dirac magnetic charge) is measured in any of the exposed samples, allowing limits to be placed on monopole production in the mass range 100 GeV$\leq m \leq$ 3500 GeV. Model-independent cross-section limits are presented in fiducial regions of monopole energy and direction for $1g_{\rm D}\leq|g|\leq 6g_{\rm D}$, and model-dependent cross-section limits are obtained for Drell-Yan pair production of spin-1/2 and spin-0 monopoles for $1g_{\rm D}\leq|g|\leq 4g_{\rm D}$. Under the assumption of Drell-Yan cross sections, mass limits are derived for $|g|=2g_{\rm D}$ and $|g|=3g_{\rm D}$ for the first time at the LHC, surpassing the results from previous collider experiments.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2016

Limits on Dark Matter Annihilation in the Sun using the ANTARES Neutrino Telescope

A search for muon neutrinos originating from dark matter annihilations in the Sun is performed using the data recorded by the ANTARES neutrino telescope from 2007 to 2012. In order to obtain the best possible sensitivities to dark matter signals, an optimisation of the event selection criteria is performed taking into account the background of atmospheric muons, atmospheric neutrinos and the energy spectra of the expected neutrino signals. No significant excess over the background is observed and $90\%$ C.L. upper limits on the neutrino flux, the spin--dependent and spin--independent WIMP-nucleon cross--sections are derived for WIMP masses ranging from $ \rm 50$ GeV to $\rm 5$ TeV for the annihilation channels $\rm WIMP + WIMP \to b \bar b, W^+ W^-$ and $\rm τ^+ τ^-$.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2016

A search for Secluded Dark Matter in the Sun with the ANTARES neutrino telescope

A search for Secluded Dark Matter annihilation in the Sun using 2007-2012 data of the ANTARES neutrino telescope is presented. Three different cases are considered: a) detection of dimuons that result from the decay of the mediator, or neutrino detection from: b) mediator that decays into a dimuon and, in turn, into neutrinos, and c) mediator that decays directly into neutrinos. As no significant excess over background is observed, constraints are derived on the dark matter mass and the lifetime of the mediator.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2016

High-energy Neutrino follow-up search of Gravitational Wave Event GW150914 with ANTARES and IceCube

We present the high-energy-neutrino follow-up observations of the first gravitational wave transient GW150914 observed by the Advanced LIGO detectors on Sept. 14th, 2015. We search for coincident neutrino candidates within the data recorded by the IceCube and ANTARES neutrino detectors. A possible joint detection could be used in targeted electromagnetic follow-up observations, given the significantly better angular resolution of neutrino events compared to gravitational waves. We find no neutrino candidates in both temporal and spatial coincidence with the gravitational wave event. Within 500 s of the gravitational wave event, the number of neutrino candidates detected by IceCube and ANTARES were three and zero, respectively. This is consistent with the expected atmospheric background, and none of the neutrino candidates were directionally coincident with GW150914. We use this non-detection to constrain neutrino emission from the gravitational-wave event.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2016

Murchison Widefield Array Limits on Radio Emission from ANTARES Neutrino Events

We present a search, using the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA), for electromagnetic counterparts to two candidate high energy neutrino events detected by the ANTARES neutrino telescope in 2013 November and 2014 March. These events were selected by ANTARES because they are consistent, within 0.4 degrees, with the locations of galaxies within 20 Mpc of Earth. Using MWA archival data at frequencies between 118 and 182 MHz, taken ~20 days prior to, at the same time as, and up to a year after the neutrino triggers, we look for transient or strongly variable radio sources consistent with the neutrino positions. No such counterparts are detected, and we set a 5 sigma upper limit for low-frequency radio emission of ~1E37 erg/s for progenitors at 20 Mpc. If the neutrino sources are instead not in nearby galaxies, but originate in binary neutron star coalescences, our limits place the progenitors at z > 0.2. While it is possible, due to the high background from atmospheric neutrinos, that neither event is astrophysical, the MWA observations are nevertheless among the first to follow up neutrino candidates in the radio, and illustrate the promise of wide-field instruments like MWA to detect electromagnetic counterparts to such events.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2016

Constraints on the neutrino emission from the Galactic Ridge with the ANTARES telescope

Compelling evidence for the existence of astrophysical neutrinos has been reported by the IceCube collaboration. Some features of the energy and declination distributions of IceCube events hint at a North/South asymmetry of the neutrino flux. This could be due to the presence of the bulk of our Galaxy in the Southern hemisphere. The ANTARES neutrino telescope, located in the Mediterranean Sea, has been taking data since 2007. It offers the best sensitivity to muon neutrinos produced by galactic cosmic ray interactions in this region of the sky. In this letter a search for an extended neutrino flux from the Galactic Ridge region is presented. Different models of neutrino production by cosmic ray propagation are tested. No excess of events is observed and upper limits for different neutrino flux spectral indices are set. This constrains the number of IceCube events possibly originating from the Galactic Ridge. A simple power-law extrapolation of the Fermi-LAT flux to associated IceCube High Energy Starting Events is excluded at 90% confidence level.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2016

Long term monitoring of the optical background in the Capo Passero deep-sea site with the NEMO tower prototype

The NEMO Phase-2 tower is the first detector which was operated underwater for more than one year at the "record" depth of 3500 m. It was designed and built within the framework of the NEMO (NEutrino Mediterranean Observatory) project. The 380 m high tower was successfully installed in March 2013 80 km offshore Capo Passero (Italy). This is the first prototype operated on the site where the italian node of the KM3NeT neutrino telescope will be built. The installation and operation of the NEMO Phase-2 tower has proven the functionality of the infrastructure and the operability at 3500 m depth. A more than one year long monitoring of the deep water characteristics of the site has been also provided. In this paper the infrastructure and the tower structure and instrumentation are described. The results of long term optical background measurements are presented. The rates show stable and low baseline values, compatible with the contribution of 40K light emission, with a small percentage of light bursts due to bioluminescence. All these features confirm the stability and good optical properties of the site.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2015

Towards a Model for Computing in European Astroparticle Physics

Current and future astroparticle physics experiments are operated or are being built to observe highly energetic particles, high energy electromagnetic radiation and gravitational waves originating from all kinds of cosmic sources. The data volumes taken by the experiments are large and expected to grow significantly during the coming years. This is a result of advanced research possibilities and improved detector technology. To cope with the substantially increasing data volumes of astroparticle physics projects it is important to understand the future needs for computing resources in this field. Providing these resources constitutes a larger fraction of the overall running costs of future infrastructures. This document presents the results of a survey made by APPEC with the help of computing experts of major projects and future initiatives in astroparticle physics, representatives of current Tier-1 and Tier-2 LHC computing centers, as well as specifically astroparticle physics computing centers, e.g. the Albert Einstein Institute for gravitational waves analysis in Hanover. In summary, the overall CPU usage and short-term disk and long-term (tape) storage space currently available for astroparticle physics projects' computing services is of the order of one third of the central computing available for LHC data at the Tier-0 center at CERN. Till the end of the decade the requirements for computing resources are estimated to increase by a factor of 10. Furthermore, this document shall describe the diversity of astroparticle physics data handling and serve as a basis to estimate a distribution of computing and storage tasks among the major computing centers. (Abridged)

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2015

First combined search for neutrino point-sources in the Southern Hemisphere with the ANTARES and IceCube neutrino telescopes

We present the results of searches for point-like sources of neutrinos based on the first combined analysis of data from both the ANTARES and IceCube neutrino telescopes. The combination of both detectors which differ in size and location forms a window in the Southern sky where the sensitivity to point sources improves by up to a factor of two compared to individual analyses. Using data recorded by ANTARES from 2007 to 2012, and by IceCube from 2008 to 2011, we search for sources of neutrino emission both across the Southern sky and from a pre-selected list of candidate objects. No significant excess over background has been found in these searches, and flux upper limits for the candidate sources are presented for $E^{-2.5}$ and $E^{-2}$ power-law spectra with different energy cut-offs.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2015

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

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 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.

astro-ph.HE↗