Die Kerne aktiver Galaxien (AGNs) und einige galaktische Objekte wie z.B. Supernovaüberreste gelten als vielversprechende Kandidaten für die Quellen der hochenergetischen kosmischen Strahlung. Der Nachweis der Emission von hochenergetischen Neutrinos von diesen Objekten wäre ein starker Hinweis für die Beschleunigung von Protonen oder schwereren Kernen. Bisher wurde jedoch keine Punktquelle hochenergetischer Neutrinos identifiziert. Durch die Beobachtung aktiver galaktischer Kerne mit gamma-Strahlung im TeV-Bereich ist bekannt, dass die Emission von AGNs zeitlich extrem variabel ist. Modelle sagen vorher, dass auch die Neutrinoemission diese Variabilität aufweist. Um im Falle der Detektion zeitabhängiger Neutrinoemission von AGNs möglichst viel über den Emissionsmechanismus zu lernen, ist es entscheidend, Daten verschiedener Energiebereiche und Botenteilchen (Neutrinos und Photonen) zur Verfügung zu haben. Durch das beschränkte Gesichtsfeld und den geringen Duty-Cycle der TeV-gamma Instrumente, können diese jedoch nicht alle potentiell interessanten Quellen lückenlos überwachen. Diese Arbeit beschreibt die Entwicklung und die ersten Resultate eines Systems, dass Daten des Neutrinoteleskops IceCube direkt am Südpol analysiert, um Alarme an die TeV-Teleskope MAGIC und VERITAS zu senden, falls eine erhöhte Neutrinoemission eines überwachten Objekts detektiert wird. Der Katalog überwachter Objekte, der im ersten Jahr dieses Programms aktiv war, umfasste 109 Objekte in der nördlichen Himmelshemisphäre (delta>0). Das System befindet sich seit März 2012 kontinuierlich Betrieb und hat von Mai 2012 bis Mai 2013 fünf Alarme generiert. Ein Alarm am 9.November 2012 resultierte in einer Folgebeobachtung durch die VERITAS-Teleskope. Es wurde kein signifikanter gamma-Fluss im TeV-Bereich detektiert. Weiterhin werden Verbesserungen der IceCube Online-Analysemethode beschrieben, die die Sensitivität des vorgestellten Programms in naher Zukunft weiter verbessern werden. / Active Galactiv Nuclei (AGN) and galactic objects like e.g. supernova remnants are promising candidates for the sources of the high-energy cosmic rays. The detection of high-energy neutrinos from these objects would be a strong hint for the acceleration of protons or heavier nuclei. No source of high-energy astrophysical neutrinos has been identified up to now. From the observation of AGN with TeV gamma-rays it is known that their emission is highly variable. Models predict that also the neutrino emission should show that variability. If time-dependent neutrino emission would be detected it would be desirable to have simultaneous data for different messengers (neutrinos and photons) and energy ranges, to learn as much as possible about the emission mechanism. However, due to the small field of view and the low duty cycle of the TeV gamma instruments, not all interesting sources can be continuously monitored. This work describes the development and the first results of a system, that analyses data of the IceCube neutrino telescope online at the South Pole, in order to send alerts to the TeV telescopes MAGIC and VERITAS in case a statistically interesting cluster of neutrinos is detected from an monitored source. This program is termed the Neutrino Triggered Target of Opportunity program (NToO). The catalog of sources monitored during the first year of operation contained 109 objects in the northern sky (delta>0). The system has been continuously operated since March 2012 and has sent five alerts between May 2012 and May 2013. One alarm issued on 9 November 2012 resulted in a follow-up observation by the VERITAS telescopes. No significant TeV-gamma flux has been detected. Improvements to the IceCube online analysis are described that will further improve the sensitivity of the NToO in the near future.

No description available.

Das IceCube Neutrino Teleskop hat einen diffusen Fluss hochenergetischen astrophysikalischen Neutrinos entdeckten. Allerdings sind die Quellen die für die Mehrzahl der nachgewiesenen Neutrinos verantwortlich sind, noch unbekannt. Diese Arbeit untersucht die Möglichkeit, dass der beobachtete Neutrino-Fluss im Zentrum von aktiven galaktischen Kernen (AGN) erzeugt wird. Eine Stacking-Analyse wird durchgeführt, um die Korrelation zwischen verschiedenen Subpopulationen von AGN und hochenergetischen Neutrinos unter Verwendung von IceCube-Daten aus acht Jahren zu testen. AGN werden anhand ihrer Radioemission, Infrarot-Farbeigenschaften und ihres Röntgenflusses. Die Leuchtkraft der Akkretionsscheibe wird verwendet, um den Beitrag ausgewählter Galaxien zum Neutrinosignal zu gewichten. Die leuchtende AGN-Population trägt zu ~52% des von IceCube gemessenen diffusen Flusses bei 100 TeV mit einem Best-Fit-Spektralindex von 2 bei mit 2.83 sigma post-trial Signifikanz. Für die AGN-Probe mit geringer Leuchtkraft wird eine Signifikanz nach dem Versuch von nur 0.66 sigma gefunden, daher werden Obergrenzen festgelegt. Unter Annahme des Spektralindex für den astrophysikalischen Fluss von 2 und einer gleichverteilten gleiche Zusammensetzung Neutrinoflavour-Zusammensetzung auf der Erde, wird eine obere Flussgrenze berechnet, die den maximalen Beitrag der Kerne von AGN mit geringer Leuchtkraft zum diffusen TeV-PeV-Neutrino-Fluss auf ~51% bei 100 TeV beschränkt. Für diese Arbeit wurde auch eine neue Rekonstruktionsmethode entwickelt. In IceCube werden hochenergetische Myon-neutrinos durch die sekundären Myonen identifiziert, die durch Wechselwirkungen über geladene Ströme mit dem Eis erzeugt werden. In dem hier vorgestellten Rekonstruktionsschema wird die erwartete Ankunftszeitverteilung durch ein vorbestimmtes stochastisches Myon-Energieverlustprofil parametrisiert. Diese realistischere Parametrisierung führt zu einer Verbesserung der Myon-Winkelauflösung in IceCube um etwa 20%. / The IceCube neutrino telescope has measured a diffuse flux of high-energy astrophysical neutrinos. However, the sources responsible for the emission of the majority of the detected neutrinos are still unknown. The goal of this thesis is to explore the possibility that the neutrino flux observed by IceCube is produced in the cores of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). A stacking analysis is conducted to test for a correlation between various sub-populations of AGN and high-energy neutrinos using eight years of IceCube data. AGN are selected based on their radio emission, infrared color properties, and X-ray flux using the NVSS, AllWISE, ROSAT and XMMSL2 catalogs. The accretion disk luminosity estimated by the observed soft X-ray flux is used as a proxy for the contribution of selected galaxies to the neutrino signal. Two of the three AGN samples tested in this analysis show over-fluctuations, with the highest significance being of 2.83 sigma after trial correction. The luminous AGN population is found to contribute to ~52% of the diffuse flux measured by IceCube at 100 TeV with a best-fit spectral index of 2. For the low-luminosity AGN sample a post-trial significance of only 0.66 sigma is found, therefore upper limits are set. Assuming the spectral index for the astrophysical flux to be 2 and an equal composition of neutrino flavours arriving at Earth, an upper flux limit is calculated which constrains the maximal contribution of the cores of low-luminosity AGN to the diffuse TeV-PeV neutrino flux to be ~51% at 100 TeV. A new reconstruction method has also been developed for this thesis. In IceCube high-energy muon neutrinos are identified through the secondary muons produced via charge current interactions with the ice. In the reconstruction scheme presented in this thesis, the expected arrival time distribution is parameterized by a predetermined stochastic muon energy loss pattern, leading to an improvement of about 20% to the muon angular resolution of IceCube.

Das IceCube Neutrino Observatorium am Südpol hat die Existenz eines diffusen astrophysikalischen Neutrinoflusses nachgewiesen. Die Flavor-Zusammensetzung astrophysikalischer Neutrinos trägt Informationen über Orte kosmischer Teilchenbeschleunigung und Auswirkungen potenzieller neuer Physik auf die Neutrinoausbreitung. Zur seiner Bestimmung ist die Beobachtung von Tau-Neutrinos nötig. Ab einer Energie von ~O(100 TeV) kann deren Wechselwirkung über geladene Ströme eine Doppelkaskaden-Topologie ergeben, bei der die zwei Energiedepositionen am Tau-Entstehungs- und Tau-Zerfallsvertex aufgelöst werden können. Diese wird zusammen mit den bereits bekannten Topologien Einzel-Kaskade und Spur zur Messung der Flavor-Zusammensetzung auf der Erde benutzt. In dieser Arbeit werden im Detektorvolumen von IceCube anfangende Ereignisse mit hohen Energien algorithmisch in drei Topologien klassifiziert. Im Datensatz mit einer Lebensdauer von 7.5 Jahren werden zum ersten Mal zwei Doppelkaskaden identifiziert; diese sind Kandidaten für Tau-Neutrinos. Die Eigenschaften der zwei Tau-Neutrino-Kandidaten werden in einer a-posteriori Analyse im Detail studiert. Die statistische Methode wird durch einen Log-Likelihood-Quotienten-Test mit multi-dimensionalen Wahrscheinlichkeitsdichten verbessert. Eine der Doppelkaskaden ist konsistent mit dem Szenario einer misklassifizierten Einzelkaskade, während für die zweite Doppelkaskade die Wahrscheinlichkeit eines nicht-Tau-Neutrino Szenarios auf nur 3% bestimmt wird. Die gemessene Flavor-Zusammensetzung ist konsistent mit der Annahme von astrophysikalischen Neutrinos sowie mit bisher veröffentlichen Resultaten. Die Messung ergibt einen astrophysikalischen Tau-Neutrino Fluss von dPhi / dE=3.0 (-1.8,+2.2) (E / 100TeV)^(-2.87) 10^(-18) GeV^(-1) cm^(-2) s^(-1) sr^(-1), was dem ersten positiven Ergebnis für die Tau-Normalisierung entspricht. Die Nichtexistenz eines astrophysikalischen Tau-Neutrino Flusses wird mit einer Signifikanz von 2.8 sigma abgelehnt. / The IceCube neutrino observatory at the South Pole has confirmed the existence of a diffuse astrophysical neutrino flux. The flavor composition of astrophysical neutrinos carries information on the environments at the sites of cosmic particle acceleration as well as potential imprints of new physics acting during neutrino propagation. To measure the flavor composition the observation of the long-elusive tau neutrinos is required. Starting at an energy of ~O(100 TeV) a tau neutrino charged current interaction can produce a double cascade topology, where the two energy depositions from the tau creation and the tau decay vertices are resolvable. This topology together with the well-established track and single cascade topology is used to measure the flavor composition on Earth. In this work, high-energy events starting in IceCube's detector volume are classified algorithmically into the three topologies. In the dataset with a livetime of 7.5 years, two events are classified as double cascades for the first time, yielding multi-TeV tau-neutrino candidates. The properties of the two tau-neutrino candidates are investigated in an a-posteriori analysis. The statistical method is improved by performing a log-likelihood-ratio test using multi-dimensional probability densities. One of the double cascades is consistent with being a misclassified single cascade, while the second double cascade is found to have a misclassification probability of only 3%. The measured flavor composition nu_e:nu_mu:nu_tau = 0.20:0.39:0.42 is consistent with astrophysical neutrinos and with previously published results. The astrophysical tau-neutrino flux is measured to dPhi / dE=3.0 (-1.8,+2.2) (E / 100TeV)^(-2.87) 10^(-18) GeV^(-1) cm^(-2) s^(-1) sr^(-1) with spectral index gamma=2.87 (-0.20,+0.21), yielding the first non-zero results for the tau normalization. The absence of an astrophysical tau-neutrino flux is disfavored at 2.8 sigma.

Neutrinooszillationen sind das einzige Phänomen jenseits des Standardmodells, das experimentell mit hoher statistischer Signifikanz bestätigt wurde. Diese Arbeit präsentiert eine Messung der atmosphärischen Neutrinooszillationen unter Verwendung von acht Jahren an Daten, die zwischen 2011 und 2019 vom IceCube DeepCore-Detektor aufgenommen wurden. Die Ereignisauswahl wurde im Vergleich zu früheren DeepCore-Messungen verbessert, wobei ein besonderes Augenmerk auf ihre Robustheit gegenüber systematischen Unsicherheiten in den Detektoreigenschaften gelegt wurde. Die Oszillationsparameter werden über eine Maximum-Likelihood-Fit an gebinnte Daten in der gemessenen Energie und Zenitwinkel geschätzt, wobei die Erwartungswerte aus gewichteten simulierten Ereignissen abgeleitet werdem. Diese Arbeit diskutiert den Simulations- und Datenauswahlprozess sowie die statistischen Methoden, die verwendet werden, um einen genauen Erwartungswert unter variablen Detektoreigenschaften und anderen systematischen Unsicherheiten zu liefern. Die Messung wird zunächst unter Verwendung des Standardmodells der Drei-Flavor-Oszillation durchgeführt, wobei das atmosphärische Massensplitting und der Mischwinkel auf $\Delta m^2_{32} = 2.42_{-0.75}^{+0.77} \times10^{-3};\mathrm{eV}^2$ und $\sin^2\theta_{23} = 0.507_{-0.053}^{+0.050}$ geschätzt werden. Das Drei-Flavor-Modell wird dann um einen zusätzlichen Masseneigenzustand erweitert, der einem sterilen Neutrino mit Massensplitting $\Delta m^2_{41} = 1;\mathrm{eV}^2$ entspricht und mit den aktiven $\nu_\mu$- und $\nu_\tau$-Flavorzuständen mischen kann. Es wird kein signifikantes Signal eines sterilen Neutrinos beobachtet, und die Mischungsamplituden zwischen den sterilen und aktiven Zuständen werden auf $|U_{\mu 4}|^2 < 0.0534$ und $|U_{\tau 4}|^2 < 0.0574$ bei 90\% C.L. begrenzt. Diese Grenzwerte sind um den Faktor zwei bis drei strenger als das vorherige DeepCore-Ergebnis, und die Einschränkung von $|U_{\tau 4}|^2$ ist die stärkste der Welt. / Neutrino oscillations are the only phenomenon beyond the Standard Model that has been confirmed experimentally to a very high statistical significance. This work presents a measurement of atmospheric neutrino oscillations using eight years of data taken by the IceCube DeepCore detector between 2011 and 2019. The event selection has been improved over that used in previous DeepCore measurements with a particular emphasis on its robustness with respect to systematic uncertainties in the detector properties. The oscillation parameters are estimated via a maximum likelihood fit to binned data in the observed energy and zenith angle, where the expectation is derived from weighted simulated events. This work discusses the simulation and data selection process, as well as the statistical methods employed to give an accurate expectation value under variable detector properties and other systematic uncertainties. The measurement is first performed first under the standard three-flavor oscillation model, where the atmospheric mass splitting and mixing angle are estimated to be $\Delta m^2_{32} = 2.42_{-0.75}^{+0.77} \times10^{-3}\;\mathrm{eV}^2$ and $\sin^2\theta_{23} = 0.507_{-0.053}^{+0.050}$, respectively. The three-flavor model is then extended by an additional mass eigenstate corresponding to a sterile neutrino with mass splitting $\Delta m^2_{41} = 1\;\mathrm{eV}^2$ that can mix with the active $\nu_\mu$ and $\nu_\tau$ flavor states. No significant signal of a sterile neutrino is observed and the mixing amplitudes between the sterile and active states are constrained to $|U_{\mu 4}|^2 < 0.0534$ and $|U_{\tau 4}|^2 < 0.0574$ at 90\% C.L. These limits are more stringent than the previous DeepCore result by a factor between two and three and the constraint on $|U_{\tau 4}|^2$ is the strongest in the world.

[pt] O princípio da equivalência é um pressuposto fundamental da Teoria da Relatividade Geral, entretanto, nas tentativas de quantização da gravidade os cálculos estão levando, muitas vezes, a pequenas violações desse princípio (VEP). Por esse motivo, se mostra necessário testá-lo e obter limites estatísticos para essas violações, a fim de possivelmente descartar alguns cenários. Uma das frentes com grande possibilidade de limitar os valores dessa violação é analisando a oscilação de neutrinos atmosféricos de altas energias, gerados pelos raios cósmicos. A oscilação padrão de sabores dos neutrinos que atravessam a Terra se torna desprezível em altas energias, enquanto a oscilação induzida por VEP se torna cada vez mais proeminente nessa faixa da energia. Neste trabalho, usamos uma abordagem minimalista da VEP, em que ela aconteceria através de diferentes valores de constantes gravitacionais para cada autoestado de massa de neutrino, parametrizado como Gi ≡ γiG onde o G é contante gravitacional, e traçamos limites para os parâmetros \Phi \Delta\gamma_21 e \Phi \Delta\gamma_21 no plano (\Phi \Delta\gamma_21 , \Phi \Delta\gamma_31), onde o \Phi é o potencial gravitacional. Para isso, foram usados os dados de rastros de múons gerados da interação de neutrinos atmosféricos com a rocha ou gelo, coletados por um ano pelo IceCube na sua forma completa (IC-86). Os múons possuem energias entre 400 GeV e 20 TeV, e os dados coletados foram comparados com os valores esperados pelos melhores modelos de produção de neutrinos muônicos atmosféricos. / [en] The equivalence principle is a fundamental assumption of General Relativity. However, in several quantum gravity scenarios, small violations of thisprinciple (VEP) is expected. For this reason, it is important to test this principle and obtain statistical limits on its violation, in order to possibly discardsome scenarios. One way to constrain this violation is analyzing the flavor oscillation pattern of high-energy atmospheric neutrinos, generated by cosmicrays. The standard oscillation of neutrino s flavor crossing the Earth becomesnegligible at high energies, while the oscillation induced by VEP becomes increasingly prominent in this range of energy. In this work, we use a minimalisticapproach about the VEP, in which it would occur because of different valuesof gravitational constants for each neutrino mass eigenstate, parameterized asGi ≡ γiG where G is the gravitational constant, and we derive limits on theparameters Phi Deltagamma_21 and Phi Deltagamma_21 in the (Phi Deltagamma_21 , Phi Deltagamma_31) plane, where Phi is thegravitational potential. To this end, muon-tracks events generated from theinteraction of atmospheric neutrinos with the rock or ice, collected for oneyear by IceCube in its complete form (IC-86), were used. The detected muonshave energies between 400 GeV and 20 TeV, and the collected data has beencompared with the values expected by the best models of atmospheric muonneutrino production.

The IceCube Neutrino Telescope is designed to detect high energy neutrinos with a large array of photomultiplier tubes placed deep within the Antarctic ice. The way that light propagates through the ice needs to be modelled accurately to enable the paths of charged particles to be reconstructed from the distribution of their Cerenkov radiation. Light travelling through even the purest of ice will undergo scattering and absorption processes, however the ice in which IceCube is embedded has optical properties that vary significantly with depth which need to be accurately modelled. Currently, simulation of the muon background using the current ice model is unable to fully replicate experimental data. In this thesis we investigate a potential method of improving on the current generation of ice models. We introduce thin, highly absorbing layers into the current description of the detection medium and investigate the effect on the simulation of muon tracks in IceCube. We find that better agreement between simulation and data can be seen in the occupancy of optical modules, through the introduction of such absorptive layers into the existing ice layers.

Many astronomical observations, including rotational curve measurements of stars and the analysis of the cosmic microwave background, suggest the existence of an invisible matter density content in the Universe, commonly called Dark Matter (DM). Possibly, DM could be of particle nature, where Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) could be a viable DM candidate. The cubic-kilometer sized IceCube neutrino observatory located at the Earth’s South Pole can search indirectly for the existence of DM by detecting neutrino signals from WIMP self-annihilation in the Galactic center (GC) and the Galactic halo (GH). Two main physics analyses were developed and conducted to search indirectly for WIMP self-annihilation in the Milky Way’s GC and GH. Signal hypotheses for different WIMP annihilation channels, WIMP masses and DM halo profiles were tested. The results of both analyses were compatible with the background-only hypothesis for all tested signal hypotheses. Thus, upper limits at the 90% confidence level (C.L.) on the thermally averaged DM self-annihilation cross-section, &lt;σΑv&gt;, were set. Dedicated atmospheric muon veto techniques have been developed for the GC search making such an IceCube analysis possible for the first time. The GC analysis utilized data from 319.7 days of live-time of the IceCube detector running in its 79-string configuration during 2010 and 2011, whereas the GH analysis utilized pre-existing data samples developed for point-like neutrino sources with a live-time of 1701.9 days between 2008 and 2013. The most stringent upper limits on &lt;σΑv&gt; were obtained for WIMP annihilation directly into a pair of neutrinos assuming a Navarro-Frenk-White (NFW) DM halo profile. Conducting the GC and GH analyses for this annihilation channel an upper limit on &lt;σΑv&gt; as low as 4.0 · 10-24 cm3 s-1 and 4.5 · 10-24 cm3 s-1 is set for a 65 GeV and 500 GeV massive WIMP, respectively. These galactic indirect neutrino searches for DM are complementary to the indirect gamma-ray DM searches usually performed on extra-galactic targets like spheroidal dwarf galaxies. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following paper was unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 2: Manuscript.</p>

New constraints on the scattering cross sections of the Kaluza Klein photon as a darkmatter candidate, its annihilation rate in the Sun and the resulting muon flux on Earth are derived.For this purpose, data collected in the IceCube Neutrino Observatory during 532 days of exposurein the austral winters between 2011 and 2014 have been analyzed with Poisson confidence intervals (J. Conrad et al., 2003) and compared to the simulated prediction achieved with the WimpSimsoftware (J. Edsjö et al., 2003). The results do not allow for any detection claim, but they improveby one order of magnitude the constraints formerly presented in R. Abbasi et al. (2010). Despitethe recent results from LHC experiment which discard lower masses for the Kaluza Klein photon (N. Deutschmann et al., 2017), the new constraints are still relevant for masses above 1500 GeV.

<p>A relic density of <i>Weakly Interacting Massive Particles</i> (WIMPs) remaining from the Big Bang constitutes a promising solution to the <i>Dark Matter</i> problem. It is possible for such WIMPs to be trapped by and accumulate in gravitational potentials of massive dense objects such as the Sun. A perfect WIMP candidate appears in certain <i>supersymmetric</i> extensions to the <i>Standard Model</i> of particle physics, where the lightest supersymmetric particle is a <i>neutralino</i> which can be stable, massive and weakly interacting. The neutralinos may annihilate pair-wise and in these interactions neutrinos with energies ranging up to the neutralino mass can be indirectly produced. Hence, a possible population of dark matter neutralinos trapped in the Sun can give rise to an observable neutrino flux.</p><p>The Antarctic Muon And Neutrino Detector Array, AMANDA, is a neutrino telescope that detects Cherenkov light emitted by charged particles created in neutrino interactions in the South Pole glacial ice sheet using an array of light detectors frozen into the deep ice. In this work data taken with the AMANDA-II detector during 2003 are analyzed to measure or put upper bounds on the flux of such neutrinos from the Sun. In the analysis detailed signal and background simulations are compared to measurements. Background rejection filters optimized for various neutralino models have been constructed. No excess above the background expected from neutrinos and muons created in cosmic ray interactions in the atmosphere was found. Instead 90% confidence upper limits have been set on the neutralino annihilation rate in the Sun and the muon flux induced by neutralino signal neutrinos. </p>