Search for neutrinos in Super-Kamiokande associated with gravitational-wave events GW150914 and GW151226

Abstract

We report the results from a search in Super-Kamiokande for neutrino signals coincident with the first detected gravitational-wave events, GW150914 and GW151226, as well as LVT151012, using a neutrino energy range from 3.5 MeV to 100 PeV. We searched for coincident neutrino events within a time window of ±500 s around the gravitational-wave detection time. Four neutrino candidates are found for GW150914, and no candidates are found for GW151226. The remaining neutrino candidates are consistent with the expected background events. We calculated the 90% confidence level upper limits on the combined neutrino fluence for both gravitational-wave events, which depends on event energy and topologies. Considering the upward-going muon data set (1.6 GeV-100 PeV), the neutrino fluence limit for each gravitational-wave event is 14-37 (19-50) cm-2 for muon neutrinos (muon antineutrinos), depending on the zenith angle of the event. In the other data sets, the combined fluence limits for both gravitational-wave events range from 2.4 ×104 to 7.0 ×109 cm-2