A Search for High-energy Muon Neutrinos from the Galactic Plane with AMANDA-II

Abstract

Interactions of cosmic rays with the galactic interstellar medium produce high-energy neutrinos through the decay of charged pions and kaons. We report on a search with the AMANDA-II detector for muon neutrinos from the region of the galactic plane below the horizon from the South Pole (33 degrees < galactic longitude < 213 degrees). Data from 2000 to 2003 were used for the search, representing a total of 807 days of livetime and 3329 candidate muon neutrino events. No excess of events was observed. For a spectrum of E^{-2.7} and Gaussian spatial distribution (sigma = 2.1 degrees) around the galactic equator, we calculate a flux limit of 4.8 x 10^{-4} GeV^{-1} cm^{-2} s^{-1} sr^{-1} in the energy range from 0.2 to 40 TeV.