EPJ Web of Conferences (Jan 2016)
Capabilities of IceCube's gamma-ray, optical and X-ray follow-up programs
Abstract
The IceCube neutrino observatory is a 1 km3 detector for Cherenkov light in the ice at the South Pole. Although the presence of a diffuse astrophysical neutrino flux has been confirmed, its origin has yet to be resolved. Given the current constraints on continuous point source searches, transient and variable objects emerge as promising, detectable source candidates. IceCube boosts the sensitivity to these types of sources by alerting third-party observatories of neutrino events clustered in direction and time. This paper will showcase several neutrino-triggered multi-messenger programs in IceCube along with their results and prospects.