Neutrino Events at IceCube and the Fermi Bubbles

We discuss the possibility that the IceCube neutrino telescope might be observing the Fermi bubbles. If the bubbles discovered in gamma rays originate from accelerated protons, they should be strong emitters of high energy (≳ GeV) neutrinos. These neutrinos are detectable as showerlike or tracklike events at a Km³ neutrino observatory. For a primary cosmic ray flux with spectrum ∝ E^-2.1 and cutoff energy at or above 10 PeV, the Fermi bubble flux substantially exceeds the atmospheric background, and could account for up to ∼4–5 of the 28 events detected above ∼30  TeV at IceCube. Running the detector for ∼5–7 more years should be sufficient to discover this flux at high significance. For a primary cosmic ray flux with steeper spectrum, and/or lower cutoff energy, longer running times will be required to overcome the background.