ANTARES search for high-energy neutrinos from TeV-emitting blazars, Markarian 421 and 501, in coincidence with HAWC gamma-ray flares

Abstract

Neutrinos are unique messengers for detecting violent phenomena in the Universe. Potential sources of cosmic neutrinos are, for example, Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) or Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs). In the case of hadronic cosmic rays acceleration, the production of neutrinos is possibly accompanied by high-energy gamma-ray emissions. The search for coincidences between high-energy neutrinos detected by the ANTARES neutrino telescope and gamma-rays detected by the HAWC gamma-ray observatory is presented. Searching in a particular time window significantly reduces the background noise in the neutrino data and thus increases the discovery potential. In this thesis, the results of a search for neutrinos detected in correlation with a gamma-ray signal from two particular AGNs, Markarian 421 and Markarian 501, are presented. As the blazars closest to Earth, they are excellent sources for testing the blazar-neutrino connection scenario, especially during the increase of their activities (flares) in which the search for neutrinos may have a higher detection probability.