No Arabic abstract
The Cygnus X region contains giant molecular cloud complexes and populous associates of massive young stars. The discovery of spatially extended, hard gamma-ray emission in Cygnus X by both Milagro and Fermi indicates that Cygnus X is also a potential source of high-energy Galactic neutrinos. Here, we adapt our single-zone model for cosmic ray interactions in the central molecular zones of starburst galaxies for use in Cygnus X. We calculate the potential neutrino flux corresponding to the hard gamma-ray emission from the Cygnus Cocoon and to the soft, diffuse interstellar gamma-ray emission. We check our results by comparing the corresponding gamma-ray emission against the Fermi interstellar emission model and Milagro, ARGO-YBJ, and HAWC observations. In comparing our results against a recent IceCube analysis and the current sensitivity limits, we find that neutrino emission from the Cocoon has a large enough flux that it could plausibly be detected, provided hadronic interactions are occurring at sufficiently high energies. High-energy neutrinos from Cygnus X would provide direct evidence for the presence of as yet unidentified PeV energy accelerators in the Galactic disk.
Both long-duration gamma-ray bursts (LGRBs) from core collapse of massive stars and short-duration GRBs (SGRBs) from mergers of binary neutron star (BNS) or neutron star--black hole (NSBH) are expected to occur in the accretion disk of active galactic nuclei (AGNs). We show that GRB jets embedded in the migration traps of AGN disks are promised to be choked by the dense disk material. Efficient shock acceleration of cosmic rays at the reverse shock is expected, and high-energy neutrinos would be produced. We find that these sources can effectively produce detectable TeV--PeV neutrinos through $pgamma$ interactions. From a choked LGRB jet with isotropic equivalent energy of $10^{53},{rm erg}$ at $100,{rm Mpc}$, one expects $sim2,(7)$ neutrino events detectable by IceCube (IceCube-Gen2). The contribution from choked LGRBs to the observed diffuse neutrino background depends on the unknown local event rate density of these GRBs in AGN disks. For example, if the local event rate density of choked LGRBs in AGN disk is $sim5%$ that of low-luminosity GRBs $(sim10,{rm Gpc}^{-3},{rm yr}^{-1})$, the neutrinos from these events would contribute to $sim10%$ of the observed diffuse neutrino background. Choked SGRBs in AGN disks are potential sources for future joint electromagnetic, neutrino, and gravitational wave multi-messenger observations.
We report the detection of two new gamma-ray sources in the Fermi-LAT sky (Pass 8) at energies higher than 20 GeV, and confirmed at lower energies, using a source detection tool based on the Minimum Spanning Tree algorithm. One of these sources, at a Galactic latitude of about -4{deg}, is a new discovery, while the other was previously reported above 50 GeV in the 2FHL catalogue. We searched for archival multi-wavelength data of possible counterparts and found interesting candidates. Both objects are radio sources and their WISE infrared colours are typical of blazars. While for the former source no optical spectra are available, for the latter a puzzling optical spectrum corresponding to a white dwarf star is found in the 6dF database. We discuss the spectral energy distributions of both sources and possible interpretations.
The microquasar Cygnus X-1 displays the two typical soft and hard X-ray states of a black-hole transient. During the latter, Cygnus X-1 shows a one-sided relativistic radio-jet. Recent detection of the system in the high energy (HE; $Egtrsim60$ MeV) gamma-ray range with textit{Fermi}-LAT associates this emission with the outflow. Former MAGIC observations revealed a hint of flaring activity in the very high-energy (VHE; $Egtrsim100$ GeV) regime during this X-ray state. We analyze $sim97$ hr of Cygnus X-1 data taken with the MAGIC telescopes between July 2007 and October 2014. To shed light on the correlation between hard X-ray and VHE gamma rays as previously suggested, we study each main X-ray state separately. We perform an orbital phase-folded analysis to look for variability in the VHE band. Additionally, to place this variability behavior in a multiwavelength context, we compare our results with textit{Fermi}-LAT, textit{AGILE}, textit{Swift}-BAT, textit{MAXI}, textit{RXTE}-ASM, AMI and RATAN-600 data. We do not detect Cygnus X-1 in the VHE regime. We establish upper limits for each X-ray state, assuming a power-law distribution with photon index $Gamma=3.2$. For steady emission in the hard and soft X-ray states, we set integral upper limits at 95% confidence level for energies above 200 GeV at $2.6times10^{-12}$~photons cm$^{-2}$s$^{-1}$ and $1.0times10^{-11}$~photons cm$^{-2}$s$^{-1}$, respectively. We rule out steady VHE gamma-ray emission above this energy range, at the level of the MAGIC sensitivity, originating in the interaction between the relativistic jet and the surrounding medium, while the emission above this flux level produced inside the binary still remains a valid possibility.
We calculate the high energy neutrino spectrum from gamma-ray bursts where the emission arises in a dissipative jet photosphere determined by either baryonically or magnetically dominated dynamics, and compare these neutrino spectra to those obtained in conventional internal shock models. We also calculate the diffuse neutrino spectra based on these models, which appear compatible with the current IceCube 40+59 constraints. While a re-analysis based on the models discussed here and the data from the full array would be needed, it appears that only those models with the most extreme parameters are close to being constrained at present. A multi-year operation of the full IceCube and perhaps a next generation of large volume neutrino detectors may be required in order to distinguish between the various models discussed.
Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) have been suggested as possible sources of the high-energy neutrino flux recently detected by the IceCube telescope. We revisit the fireball emission model and elaborate an analytical prescription to estimate the high-energy neutrino prompt emission from pion and kaon decays, assuming that the leading mechanism for the neutrino production is lepto-hadronic. To this purpose, we include hadronic, radiative and adiabatic cooling effects and discuss their relevance for long- (including high- and low-luminosity) and short-duration GRBs. The expected diffuse neutrino background is derived, by requiring that the GRB high-energy neutrino counterparts follow up-to-date gamma-ray luminosity functions and redshift evolutions of the long and short GRBs. Although dedicated stacking searches have been unsuccessful up to now, we find that GRBs could contribute up to a few % to the observed IceCube high-energy neutrino flux for sub-PeV energies, assuming that the latter has a diffuse origin. Gamma-ray bursts, especially low-luminosity ones, could however be the main sources of the IceCube high-energy neutrino flux in the PeV range. While high-luminosity and low-luminosity GRBs have comparable intensities, the contribution from the short-duration component is significantly smaller. Our findings confirm the most-recent IceCube results on the GRB searches and suggest that larger exposure is mandatory to detect high-energy neutrinos from high-luminosity GRBs in the near future.