High-energy electromagnetic, neutrino, and cosmic-ray emission by stellar-mass black holes in disks of active galactic nuclei

TL;DR

This paper proposes that stellar-mass black holes in active galactic nuclei disks can produce electromagnetic, neutrino, and cosmic-ray emissions, potentially explaining observed high-energy backgrounds and specific galaxy emissions.

Contribution

It introduces a unified model linking black hole jet emissions to gamma-ray, neutrino, and cosmic-ray backgrounds, with testable predictions for future observations.

Findings

Emission from internal shocks can explain gamma rays from NGC1068.

Moderate jet Lorentz factors contribute to MeV gamma-ray and neutrino backgrounds.

Neutrino flux and ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays from NGC1068 can be accounted for.

Abstract

Some Seyfert galaxies are detected in high-energy gamma rays, but the mechanism and site of gamma-ray emission are unknown. Also, the origins of the cosmic high-energy neutrino and MeV gamma-ray backgrounds have been veiled in mystery since their discoveries. We propose emission from stellar-mass BHs (sBHs) embedded in disks of active galactic nuclei (AGN) as their possible sources. These sBHs are predicted to launch jets due to the Blandford-Znajek mechanism, which can produce intense electromagnetic, neutrino, and cosmic-ray emissions. We investigate whether these emissions can be the sources of cosmic high-energy particles. We find that emission from internal shocks in the jets can explain gamma rays from nearby radio-quiet Seyfert galaxies including NGC1068, if the Lorentz factor of the jets ($\Gamma_{\rm j}$) is high. On the other hand, for moderate $\Gamma_{\rm j}$, the emission can significantly contribute to the background gamma-ray and neutrino intensities in the $\sim {\rm MeV}$ and $\lesssim {\rm PeV}$ bands, respectively. Furthermore, for moderate $\Gamma_{\rm j}$ with efficient amplification of the magnetic field and cosmic-ray acceleration, the neutrino emission from NGC1068 and the ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays can be explained. These results suggest that the neutrino flux from NGC1068 as well as the background intensities of ${\rm MeV}$ gamma rays, neutrinos, and the ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays can be explained by a unified model. Future MeV gamma-ray satellites will test our scenario for neutrino emission.