The standard perception is that the detection of high energy (TeV energies and above) neutrinos from an astrophysical object is a conclusive evidence for the presence of hadronic cosmic rays at the source. In the present work we demonstrate that TeV neutrinos can also be originated from energetic electrons via electromagnetic interactions in different potential cosmic ray sources with flux levels comparable to that of the hadronic originated neutrinos at high energies. Our findings thus imply that at least a part of the neutrinos observed by Icecube observatory may be originated from energetic electrons. The present analysis further suggests that only a combine study of TeV gamma rays and neutrinos over a wide energy range from an astrophysical object can unambiguously identify the nature of their parents, hadrons or leptons.
Download