Fermi bubbles detected in $\sim$100 TeV neutrinos

Abstract

The Fermi bubbles have been identified as a collimated bipolar outflow emanating from the Milky-Way center, tracing strong forward shocks which extend $\sim 10$ kpc from the Galactic disk, originating from a $\sim 10^{56\pm 1}$ erg outburst. These shocks are sufficiently strong, extended, and energetic to produce a detectable flux of $\gtrsim 10$ TeV neutrinos, especially in their denser north and east, but early IceCube data were insufficient for identifying the signal. We find that IceCube high-energy starting events (HESE 12-year) correlate with the $\text{Fermi}$-LAT sky map outside the Galactic plane ($>3\sigma$). Testing for neutrinos coincident with the bubble shells, localized using $\text{eROSITA}$ data, we detect ($>4\sigma$) both bubbles at high ($|b|>30^{\circ }$) latitudes, with a local excess ($>5\sigma$) mainly in their X-ray bright eastern shells. The signal matches the anticipated secondaries of relativistic ions carrying $\sim 10^{54.5}$ erg (with factor $\sim 3$ uncertainty) in each bubble, shock-accelerated to $>$PeV energies. The results verify the strength of the shocks, suggesting an ion acceleration efficiency of order $\sim 10\%$. We also present preliminary evidence for neutrinos from the even larger shells of the eROSITA bubbles, which encapsulate their younger Fermi-bubble counterparts, carrying a similar energy and confined by shocks nearly as strong.

10 pages, 9 figures