Unveiling the Nature of Galactic TeV Sources with IceCube Results

IceCube collaboration reported the first high-significance observation of the neutrino emission from the Galactic disk. The observed signal can be due to diffuse emission produced by cosmic rays interacting with interstellar gas but can also arise from a population of sources. In this paper, we eval...

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Main Authors: V. Vecchiotti, F. L. Villante, G. Pagliaroli
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IOP Publishing 2023-01-01
Series:The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/acff60
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author V. Vecchiotti
F. L. Villante
G. Pagliaroli
author_facet V. Vecchiotti
F. L. Villante
G. Pagliaroli
author_sort V. Vecchiotti
collection DOAJ
description IceCube collaboration reported the first high-significance observation of the neutrino emission from the Galactic disk. The observed signal can be due to diffuse emission produced by cosmic rays interacting with interstellar gas but can also arise from a population of sources. In this paper, we evaluate both the diffuse and source contribution by taking advantage of gamma-ray observations and/or theoretical considerations. By comparing our expectations with IceCube measurements, we constrain the fraction of Galactic TeV gamma-ray sources (resolved and unresolved) with hadronic nature. In order to be compatible with the IceCube results, this fraction should be small, or the source proton energy cutoff should be well below the cosmic-ray proton knee. In particular, for a cutoff energy equal to 500 TeV, the fraction of hadronic sources should be less than ∼40% corresponding to a cumulative source flux Φ _ν _,s ≤ 2.6 × 10 ^−10 cm ^−2 s ^−1 integrated in the 1–100 TeV energy range. This fraction reduces to ∼20% for energy cutoff reaching the cosmic-ray proton knee around 5 PeV.
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spelling doaj.art-b12cefd5f12d40568baf366b0f76aa372023-10-20T09:43:52ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal Letters2041-82052023-01-019562L4410.3847/2041-8213/acff60Unveiling the Nature of Galactic TeV Sources with IceCube ResultsV. Vecchiotti0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9802-3678F. L. Villante1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7667-4499G. Pagliaroli2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6751-9996Norges Teknisk-naturvitenskapelige Universitet , Department of Physics, NO-7491 Trondheim, Norway ; vittoria.vecchiotti@ntnu.noUniversity of L’Aquila , Physics and Chemistry Department, I-67100 L’Aquila, Italy; Istituto Nazionale di FIsica Nucleare , Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, I-67100 Assergi (AQ), ItalyIstituto Nazionale di FIsica Nucleare , Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, I-67100 Assergi (AQ), ItalyIceCube collaboration reported the first high-significance observation of the neutrino emission from the Galactic disk. The observed signal can be due to diffuse emission produced by cosmic rays interacting with interstellar gas but can also arise from a population of sources. In this paper, we evaluate both the diffuse and source contribution by taking advantage of gamma-ray observations and/or theoretical considerations. By comparing our expectations with IceCube measurements, we constrain the fraction of Galactic TeV gamma-ray sources (resolved and unresolved) with hadronic nature. In order to be compatible with the IceCube results, this fraction should be small, or the source proton energy cutoff should be well below the cosmic-ray proton knee. In particular, for a cutoff energy equal to 500 TeV, the fraction of hadronic sources should be less than ∼40% corresponding to a cumulative source flux Φ _ν _,s ≤ 2.6 × 10 ^−10 cm ^−2 s ^−1 integrated in the 1–100 TeV energy range. This fraction reduces to ∼20% for energy cutoff reaching the cosmic-ray proton knee around 5 PeV.https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/acff60Neutrino astronomyHigh-energy cosmic radiation
spellingShingle V. Vecchiotti
F. L. Villante
G. Pagliaroli
Unveiling the Nature of Galactic TeV Sources with IceCube Results
The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Neutrino astronomy
High-energy cosmic radiation
title Unveiling the Nature of Galactic TeV Sources with IceCube Results
title_full Unveiling the Nature of Galactic TeV Sources with IceCube Results
title_fullStr Unveiling the Nature of Galactic TeV Sources with IceCube Results
title_full_unstemmed Unveiling the Nature of Galactic TeV Sources with IceCube Results
title_short Unveiling the Nature of Galactic TeV Sources with IceCube Results
title_sort unveiling the nature of galactic tev sources with icecube results
topic Neutrino astronomy
High-energy cosmic radiation
url https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/acff60
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AT flvillante unveilingthenatureofgalactictevsourceswithicecuberesults
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