The Contribution of Turbulent Active Galactic Nucleus Coronae to the Diffuse Neutrino Flux
Active galactic nuclei (AGN) can accelerate protons to energies of ∼10–100 TeV, with secondary production of high-energy neutrinos. If the acceleration is driven by magnetized turbulence, the main properties of the resulting proton and neutrino spectra can be deduced based on insights from particle-...
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IOP Publishing
2025-01-01
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| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adec9c |
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| author | Damiano F. G. Fiorillo Luca Comisso Enrico Peretti Maria Petropoulou Lorenzo Sironi |
| author_facet | Damiano F. G. Fiorillo Luca Comisso Enrico Peretti Maria Petropoulou Lorenzo Sironi |
| author_sort | Damiano F. G. Fiorillo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Active galactic nuclei (AGN) can accelerate protons to energies of ∼10–100 TeV, with secondary production of high-energy neutrinos. If the acceleration is driven by magnetized turbulence, the main properties of the resulting proton and neutrino spectra can be deduced based on insights from particle-in-cell simulations of magnetized turbulence. We have previously shown that these properties are consistent with the TeV neutrino signal observed from the nearby active galaxy NGC 1068. In this work, we extend this result to a population study. We show that the produced neutrino flux depends mainly on the energetics of the corona—the relative fractions of X-ray, magnetic, and nonthermal proton energy—and on the spectral energy distribution of the AGN. We find that coronae with similar properties can explain neutrinos from the candidate AGN for which IceCube has reported an excess, albeit less significant than NGC 1068. Building on this framework, we show how the neutrino signal evolves with AGN luminosity, and use this AGN sequence to predict the diffuse neutrino flux from the extragalactic population, showing that it can account for the diffuse neutrino signal observed by IceCube in the ∼1–100 TeV energy range. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-d3c3fc2f2c6f48e399516ab60d81774b |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 1538-4357 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Astrophysical Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-d3c3fc2f2c6f48e399516ab60d81774b2025-08-20T03:07:28ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572025-01-01989221510.3847/1538-4357/adec9cThe Contribution of Turbulent Active Galactic Nucleus Coronae to the Diffuse Neutrino FluxDamiano F. G. Fiorillo0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4927-9850Luca Comisso1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8822-8031Enrico Peretti2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0543-0467Maria Petropoulou3https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6640-0179Lorenzo Sironi4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1227-2754Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY , Platanenallee 6, 15738 Zeuthen, Germany ; damianofg@gmail.comDepartment of Physics, Columbia University , New York, NY 10027, USA; Department of Astronomy and Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory, Columbia University , New York, NY 10027, USAINAF—Astrophysical Observatory of Arcetri , Largo E. Fermi 5, 50125 Florence, Italy; Université Paris Cité , CNRS, Astroparticule et Cosmologie, 10 Rue Alice Domon et Léonie Duquet, F-75013 Paris, FranceDepartment of Physics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens , University Campus Zografos, GR 15784, Athens, Greece; Institute of Accelerating Systems & Applications, University Campus Zografos , Athens, GreeceDepartment of Astronomy and Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory, Columbia University , New York, NY 10027, USA; Center for Computational Astrophysics, Flatiron Institute , 162 5th Avenue, New York, NY 10010, USAActive galactic nuclei (AGN) can accelerate protons to energies of ∼10–100 TeV, with secondary production of high-energy neutrinos. If the acceleration is driven by magnetized turbulence, the main properties of the resulting proton and neutrino spectra can be deduced based on insights from particle-in-cell simulations of magnetized turbulence. We have previously shown that these properties are consistent with the TeV neutrino signal observed from the nearby active galaxy NGC 1068. In this work, we extend this result to a population study. We show that the produced neutrino flux depends mainly on the energetics of the corona—the relative fractions of X-ray, magnetic, and nonthermal proton energy—and on the spectral energy distribution of the AGN. We find that coronae with similar properties can explain neutrinos from the candidate AGN for which IceCube has reported an excess, albeit less significant than NGC 1068. Building on this framework, we show how the neutrino signal evolves with AGN luminosity, and use this AGN sequence to predict the diffuse neutrino flux from the extragalactic population, showing that it can account for the diffuse neutrino signal observed by IceCube in the ∼1–100 TeV energy range.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adec9cHigh energy astrophysicsActive galactic nucleiNeutrino astronomyNonthermal radiation sourcesPlasma astrophysics |
| spellingShingle | Damiano F. G. Fiorillo Luca Comisso Enrico Peretti Maria Petropoulou Lorenzo Sironi The Contribution of Turbulent Active Galactic Nucleus Coronae to the Diffuse Neutrino Flux The Astrophysical Journal High energy astrophysics Active galactic nuclei Neutrino astronomy Nonthermal radiation sources Plasma astrophysics |
| title | The Contribution of Turbulent Active Galactic Nucleus Coronae to the Diffuse Neutrino Flux |
| title_full | The Contribution of Turbulent Active Galactic Nucleus Coronae to the Diffuse Neutrino Flux |
| title_fullStr | The Contribution of Turbulent Active Galactic Nucleus Coronae to the Diffuse Neutrino Flux |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Contribution of Turbulent Active Galactic Nucleus Coronae to the Diffuse Neutrino Flux |
| title_short | The Contribution of Turbulent Active Galactic Nucleus Coronae to the Diffuse Neutrino Flux |
| title_sort | contribution of turbulent active galactic nucleus coronae to the diffuse neutrino flux |
| topic | High energy astrophysics Active galactic nuclei Neutrino astronomy Nonthermal radiation sources Plasma astrophysics |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adec9c |
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