Abstract
Radiatively inefficient accretion flows (RIAFs) in low-luminosity active galactic nuclei (LLAGNs) have been suggested as cosmic-ray and neutrino sources that may largely contribute to the observed diffuse neutrino intensity. We show that this scenario naturally predicts hadronic multi-TeV gamma-ray excesses around Galactic centers. The protons accelerated in the RIAF in Sagittarius A∗ (Sgr A∗) escape and interact with dense molecular gas surrounding Sgr A∗, which is known as the central molecular zone (CMZ), and produce gamma rays as well as neutrinos. Based on a theoretical model that is compatible with the IceCube data, we calculate gamma-ray spectra of the CMZ and find that the gamma rays with ‰1 TeV may have already been detected with the High Energy Stereoscopic System if Sgr A∗ was more active in the past than it is today, as indicated by various observations. Our model predicts that neutrinos should come from the CMZ with a spectrum similar to the gamma-ray spectrum. We also show that such a gamma-ray excess is expected for some nearby galaxies hosting LLAGNs.
Original language | English (US) |
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Article number | 023001 |
Journal | Physical Review D - Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology |
Volume | 92 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jul 6 2015 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Nuclear and High Energy Physics
- Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)