GCN Circular 21496

J. Alvarez-Muniz, F. Pedreira, E. Zas (Univ. Santiago de Compostela, Spain),
K. H. Kampert & M. Schimp (Bergische Universitat, Wuppertal, Germany)
on behalf of the Pierre Auger Collaboration.

In response to the LIGO/Virgo GW trigger G296853
(GCN #21431
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 , T0=2017-08-09 08:28:21.747 UTC):

We searched for Ultra High Energy (UHE) neutrinos with energies
above ~ 1e17 eV in data collected with the Surface Detector (SD) of
the Pierre Auger Observatory in a [-500,500] second interval about
the LIGO-Virgo trigger G296853 as well as 1 day after it.

NO events survived the cuts applied to reject the background due to UHE
Cosmic Rays i.e. NO neutrino candidates were detected.

The field of view (fov) where the SD of Auger is sensitive to UHE neutrinos
(corresponding to inclined directions with respect to the vertical relative
to the ground) was NOT coincident with the LIGO 90% localization region at
the
time T0 of the merger alert. The LIGO 90% localization region maximally
overlapped with the Auger fov for the first time ~ 7 hours after the merger.

The Pierre Auger Observatory is an UHE Cosmic Ray detector
located in the Mendoza Province in Argentina. It consists of an array
of Water Cherenkov detectors spread over a total surface of 3000 km^2
arranged in a triangular grid of 1.5 km side as well as Fluorescence
telescopes and other systems (see 10.1016/j.nima.2015.06.058
for more information).
For neutrino searches from GW events with Auger, please refer to:
https://journals.aps.org/prd/pdf/10.1103/PhysRevD.94.122007