Secondary photons and neutrinos from cosmic rays produced by distant blazars

TL;DR

This paper explores how secondary photons and neutrinos from cosmic rays emitted by distant blazars can provide insights into intergalactic magnetic fields, background light, and cosmic ray acceleration, with implications for observational astronomy.

Contribution

It demonstrates that secondary neutrinos enhance the detection prospects of distant blazars and discusses their implications for cosmic backgrounds and magnetic fields.

Findings

Secondary neutrinos improve blazar detection prospects.

Secondary photons may already be observed by gamma-ray telescopes.

Implications for intergalactic magnetic fields and cosmic backgrounds.

Abstract

Secondary photons and neutrinos produced in the interactions of cosmic ray protons emitted by distant Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) with the photon background along the line of sight can reveal a wealth of new information about the intergalactic magnetic fields (IGMF), extragalactic background light (EBL), and the acceleration mechanisms of cosmic rays. The secondary photons may have already been observed by gamma-ray telescopes. We show that the secondary neutrinos improve the prospects of discovering distant blazars by IceCube, and we discuss the ramifications for the cosmic backgrounds, magnetic fields, and AGN models.