Searches for Point Sources of High-Energy Astrophysical Neutrinos with the IceCube Neutrino Observatory
Despite 100 years of cosmic ray observations, the sources of the highest-energy cosmic rays remain unknown. Neutrinos are produced in hadronic interactions, and observing a point source of astrophysical neutrinos would therefore be a “smoking gun” signature of cosmic ray acceleration. I present the latest results from searches for neutrino point sources with the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, a cubic kilometer Cherenkov detector built into the ice sheet at the geographic South Pole. I will also discuss how these results inform our understanding of recent neutrino observations and emission models.