IceCube Search for Galactic Neutrino Sources based on Very High Energy Gamma-ray Observations

Abstract: Galactic cosmic rays reach energies of at least several PeV, and their interactions should generate $\gamma$-rays and neutrinos from decay of secondary pions. Therefore, Galactic sources have a guaranteed contribution to the total high-energy cosmic neutrino flux observed by IceCube. Assuming that the highest energy $\gamma$-rays are pionic, promising neutrino source candidates have been identified based on their spectra, and observing them is likely over the lifetime of the IceCube experiment. Here, we present the search for Galactic sources of high-energy cosmic neutrinos by focusing on sources identified by HAWC's very high energy $\gamma$-ray survey.