Search for steady and flaring neutrino emission from cosmic sources using the complete ANTARES dataset

Albert A, Alves S, André M, Ardid M, Ardid S, Aubert JJ, Aublin J, Baret B, Basa S, Becherini Y, Belhorma B, Benfenati F, Bertin V, Biagi S, Boumaaza J, Bouta M, Bouwhuis MC, Brânzaş H, Bruijn R, Brunner J, Busto J, Caiffi B, Calvo D, Campion S, Capone A, Carenini F, Carr J, Carretero V, Cartraud T, Celli S, Cerisy L, Chabab M, Cherkaoui El Moursli R, Chiarusi T, Circella M, Coelho JA, Coleiro A, Coniglione R, Coyle P, Creusot A, Díaz AF, De Martino B, Distefano C, Di Palma I, Donzaud C, Dornic D, Drouhin D, Eberl T, Eddymaoui A, van Eeden T, van Eijk D, El Hedri S, El Khayati N, Enzenhöfer A, Fermani P, Ferrara G, Filippini F, Fusco L, Gagliardini S, García J, Gatius Oliver C, Gay P, Geißelbrecht N, Glotin H, Gozzini R, Gracia Ruiz R, Graf K, Guidi C, Haegel L, Hallmann S, van Haren H, Heijboer AJ, Hello Y, Hennig L, Hernández-Rey JJ, Hößl J, Huang F, Illuminati G, Jisse-Jung B, de Jong M, de Jong P, Kadler M, Kalekin O, Katz U, Kouchner A, Kreykenbohm I, Kulikovskiy V, Lahmann R, Lamoureux M, Lazo A, Lefèvre D, Leonora E, Levi G, Le Stum S, Loucatos S, Manczak J, Marcelin M, Margiotta A, Marinelli A, Martínez-Mora JA, Migliozzi P, Moussa A, Muller R, Navas S, Nezri E, Fearraigh B, Oukacha E, Păun AM, Păvălaş GE, Peña-Martínez S, Perrin-Terrin M, Piattelli P, Poirè C, Popa V, Pradier T, Randazzo N, Real D, Riccobene G, Romanov A, Sánchez Losa A, Saina A, Salesa Greus F, Samtleben DF, Sanguineti M, Sapienza P, Schüssler F, Seneca J, Spurio M, Stolarczyk T, Taiuti M, Tayalati Y, Vallage B, Vannoye G, Van Elewyck V, Viola S, Vivolo D, Wilms J, Zavatarelli S, Zegarelli A, Zornoza JD, Zúñiga J (2026)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2026

Journal

Book Volume: 86

Article Number: 918

Journal Issue: 8

DOI: 10.1140/epjc/s10052-026-15919-2

Abstract

ANTARES, a neutrino detector located in the depths of the Mediterranean Sea, operated successfully for over 15 years before being decommissioned in 2022. The telescope offered a vantage view of the Southern Sky and benefited from favourable water properties, enabling good angular resolution. This study makes use of data collected over the entire operational period of ANTARES to search for sources of high-energy cosmic neutrinos, considering both steady and flaring emission scenarios. First, a time-integrated search for high-energy neutrino clustering across much of the celestial sphere is conducted. The most significant accumulation is found at coordinates (α,δ)=(200.5∘,17.7∘) with a post-trial p value equal to 0.38. A dedicated search in the Galactic Plane is also performed for extended sources, yielding no significant excess. Additionally, a list of potential neutrino sources is investigated. The blazar MG3 J225517+2409 is identified as the most significant object, yet the excess remains compatible with background fluctuations. A mild local excess of 2.4σ is found for the blazar TXS 0506+056. The full sky is also examined for the presence of flaring neutrino emission. The most significant excess in this case corresponds to a ∼4-day flare from the direction (α,δ)=(141.3∘,9.8∘), with a post-trial p-value of 0.30. Finally, the directions of sources highlighted in IceCube’s time-dependent searches are investigated. Temporal overlaps between ANTARES and IceCube flares are identified for PKS 1502+106 and TXS 0506+056, with an estimated chance probability of about 0.02%. However, the absence of a corresponding strong signal in IceCube does not support an astrophysical interpretation of the temporal coincidence.

Authors with CRIS profile

Involved external institutions

Université de Strasbourg (UDS) France (FR) University of València / Universitat de València Spain (ES) Polytechnic University of Catalonia / Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya · BarcelonaTech (UPC) / Universidad Politécnica de Cataluña Spain (ES) Polytechnic University of Valencia / Universidad Politécnica de Valencia Spain (ES) Institut national de physique nucléaire et de physique des particules (IN2P3) France (FR) Laboratoire AstroParticule et Cosmologie APC / Astroparticle and Cosmology Laboratory France (FR) Aix-Marseille University / Aix-Marseille Université France (FR) The National Center for Nuclear Energy, Sciences and Techniques (CNESTEN) Morocco (MA) National Institute for Nuclear Physics / Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN) Italy (IT) Mohammed V University (UMVA) / جامعة محمد الخامس‎ Morocco (MA) Mohammed First University / Université Mohammed Premier / جامعة محمد الأول Morocco (MA) FOM Foundation Netherlands (NL) National Institute for Laser, Plasma & Radiation Physics (INFLPR) Romania (RO) Universidad de Granada Spain (ES) Università degli Studi di Salerno Italy (IT) Institute of Research into the Fundamental Laws of the Universe / Institut de recherche sur les lois fondamentales de l'univers (IRFU) France (FR) Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg Germany (DE) Mediterranean Institute of Oceanography (MIO) / Institut méditerranéen d'océanologie France (FR) University of Toulon / Université de Toulon (UTLN) France (FR) Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ) Netherlands (NL) UMR Géoazur - Campus Azur du CNRS France (FR) Cadi Ayyad University / جامعة القاضي عياض‎ Morocco (MA)

How to cite

APA:

Albert, A., Alves, S., André, M., Ardid, M., Ardid, S., Aubert, J.J.,... Zúñiga, J. (2026). Search for steady and flaring neutrino emission from cosmic sources using the complete ANTARES dataset. European Physical Journal C: Particles and Fields, 86(8). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-026-15919-2

MLA:

Albert, A., et al. "Search for steady and flaring neutrino emission from cosmic sources using the complete ANTARES dataset." European Physical Journal C: Particles and Fields 86.8 (2026).

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