Identification of Gamma-Rays and Neutrinos from the Cygnus-X Complex Considering Radio Gamma Correlation

TL;DR

This study models the multiwavelength spectrum of Cygnus X using a leptohadronic approach, revealing significant diffusion losses and predicting a neutrino flux detectable by IceCube in the near future.

Contribution

First comprehensive multiwavelength modeling of Cygnus X with a leptohadronic model, including diffusion effects and neutrino flux predictions for IceCube detection.

Findings

Diffusion losses dominate energy loss processes in Cygnus X.

The model fits radio to TeV data but underestimates Milagro observations.

Predicted neutrino flux approaches IceCube sensitivity at energies above 50 TeV.

Abstract

The abundance of accelerators and the ambient conditions make Cygnus X a natural laboratory for studying the life cycle of cosmic-rays (CRs). This naturally makes the Cygnus X complex a highly interesting source in neutrino astronomy, in particular concerning a possible detection with the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, which has a good view of the northern hemisphere. In this paper, we model the multiwavelength spectrum of the Cygnus, for the first time using a broad data set from radio, MeV (COMPTEL), GeV (Fermi), TeV (Argo) and 10s of TeV (Milagro) energies. The modeling is performed assuming a leptohadronic model. We solve the steady-state transport equation for leptons and hadrons injected homogeneously in the region and test the role of diffusive transport and energy loss by radiation and interaction. The result shows that diffusion loss plays a significant role in Cygnus X and always exceeds the advection loss as well as almost all other loss processes. The best-fit parameters we find are a magnetic field of $B=8.9\times10^{-6}$ G, a target density of $N_t=19.4$ cm$^{-3}$, a cosmic ray spectral index of $\alpha=2.37$ and neutral gas distribution over a depth of 116 pc. We find that the fit describes the data up to TeV energies well, while the Milagro data are underestimated. This transport model with a broad multiwavelength fit provides a neutrino flux which approaches the sensitivity of IceCube at very high energies ($>$ 50 TeV). In the future, the flux sensitivity of IceCube will be improved. With this rather pessimistic model, leaving out the influence of possible strong, high-energy point sources, we already expect the flux in the Cygnus X region to suffice for IceCube to measure a significant neutrino flux in the next decade.