Multi-messenger aspects of cosmic neutrinos*

Abstract

The recent observation of TeV-PeV neutrinos by IceCube has opened a new window to the high-energy Universe. I will discuss this signal in the context of multi-messenger astronomy. For extragalactic source scenarios the corresponding gamma-rays are not directly observable due to interactions with the cosmic radiation backgrounds. Nevertheless, the isotropic sub-TeV gamma ray background observed by Fermi-LAT contains indirect information from secondary emission produced in electromagnetic cascades. On the other hand, observation of PeV gamma rays would provide a smoking-gun signal for Galactic emission. Interestingly, the overall energy density of the observed neutrino flux is close to a theoretical limit for neutrino production in ultra-high energy cosmic ray sources and might indicate a common origin of these phenomena. I will highlight various multi-messenger relations and their implications for neutrino source scenarios.