Search for a possible space-time correlation between high energy neutrinos and gamma-ray bursts

Abstract

Abstract.We look for space-time correlations between 2233 gamma-bursts in the Batse Catalogs and 894 upward-going muons produced by neutrino interactions in the rock below or inside MACRO. Considering a search cone of 10• around GRB directions and a time window of ±200 s we find 0 events to be compared to 0.035 expected background events due to atmospheric neutrinos. The corresponding upper limit (90% c.l.) is 0.87 10upward-going muons per average burst.

Origin and propagation of extremely high-energy cosmic rays

“…A correlation of a fraction of all UHE neutrinos with GRBs would thus be a strong test of the GRB scenario of UHECR origin. An experimental upper limit of 0.87× 10 −9 cm −2 upward going neutrino induced muons per average GRB has been set by the MACRO detector [372]. The question of the maximal possible neutrino energies from GRBs and also blazars was reconsidered recently, resulting in typical numbers of ∼ 10 19 eV: Ref.…”