Search for GeV neutrino emission during intense gamma-ray solar flares with the IceCube Neutrino Observatory

Abstract

Solar flares convert magnetic energy into thermal and nonthermal plasma energy, the latter implying particle acceleration of charged particles such as protons. Protons are injected out of the coronal acceleration region and can interact with dense plasma in the lower solar atmosphere, producing mesons that subsequently decay into gamma rays and neutrinos at OðMeV-GeVÞ energies. We present the results of the first search for GeV neutrinos emitted during solar flares carried out with the IceCube Neutrino Observatory. While the experiment was originally designed to detect neutrinos with energies between 10 GeV and a few PeV, a new approach allowing for a OðGeVÞ energy threshold will be presented. The resulting limits allow us to constrain some of the theoretical estimates of the expected neutrino flux.