- First Name:Matthew
- Last Name:Kistler
- Working Group Presenter
- Title:Guaranteed and Prospective Galactic TeV Neutrino S
- Presentation Type:Talk
- Presentation Work Group:Neutrino Astronomy
- Abstract:Guaranteed and Prospective Galactic TeV Neutrino Sources:
Recent observations, particularly from the HESS Collaboration, have revealed rich Galactic populations of TeV gamma-ray sources, including a collection that is unseen at other wavelengths. Many of these gamma-ray spectra are consistent with shock acceleration (dN/dE ~ E^-2.2) and are typically well measured to around 10 TeV, where cosmic-ray backgrounds make gamma-ray detection by air Cherenkov telescopes very difficult. To understand these mysterious sources, especially at much higher energies--where a cutoff should eventually appear--new techniques are needed. We point out the following: (1) For a number of these sources, there is reliable, independent evidence that neutrinos are also produced; (2) As a general point, due to the nature of the signal efficiency and background rejection, neutrinos should be a better probe of the highest energies than gamma rays; and (3) For several specific sources, the detection prospects for km^3 neutrino telescopes are very good, ~ 1-10 events/year, with low atmospheric neutrino background rates above reasonable energy thresholds. Even with a small number of signal events, neutrino telescopes can powerfully discriminate between models for the Galactic TeV sources, with important consequences for our understanding of Galactic cosmic-ray production.