The many faces of blazar emission in the context of hadronic models

TL;DR

This paper explores different hadronic models for blazar emission, analyzing their spectral, variability, and neutrino predictions, and applies these models to specific BL Lacs linked to IceCube neutrinos, assessing their contribution to the neutrino background.

Contribution

It introduces two hadronic modeling approaches for blazar spectral energy distributions and evaluates their implications for multi-messenger astrophysics.

Findings

Different hadronic models predict distinct spectral and variability signatures.

Some BL Lacs may be significant sources of high-energy neutrinos.

The BL Lac population could contribute notably to the observed neutrino background.

Abstract

We present two ways of modeling the spectral energy distribution of blazars in the hadronic context and discuss the predictions of each "hadronic variant" on the spectral shape, the multi-wavelength variability, the cosmic-ray flux, and the high-energy neutrino emission. Focusing on the latter, we then present an application of the hadronic model to individual BL Lacs that were recently suggested to be the counterparts of some of the IceCube neutrinos, and conclude by discussing the contribution of the whole BL Lac class to the observed neutrino background.