The universe has been studied using light since the dawn of astronomy, when starlight captured the human eye. The IceCube Neutrino Observatory observes the universe in a different way: in high-energy neutrinos. IceCube’s 2013 discovery of a diffuse flux of astrophysical neutrinos, in other words, a cosmic emission of high-energy neutrinos, started a new era of neutrino astronomy. I will motivate why neutrinos are a necessary messenger in high-energy astronomy. I will discuss the multiple diffuse flux analyses in IceCube that observe the astrophysical flux, and what each can tell us. Spatial analyses that aim to identify the sources of such astrophysical neutrinos will also be discussed, followed by an attempt to reconcile all results, to draw a coherent picture that is the state of neutrino astronomy.
Coffee Hour with speaker for students and postdocs will be held in WL210 from 3:30 - 4:30 pm