An NGC 1068-Informed Understanding of Neutrino Emission of the Active Galactic Nucleus TXS 0506+056

TL;DR

This paper suggests that neutrinos from the active galactic nucleus TXS 0506+056 likely originate near its core, similar to other active galaxies, and proposes a model involving obscured core regions within a few Schwarzschild radii.

Contribution

It introduces a new interpretation of neutrino origins in AGNs, emphasizing core regions over jets, supported by multi-wavelength observational evidence and comparisons with NGC 1068.

Findings

Neutrinos may originate near the AGN core, not the jet.

Obscured core regions can produce neutrino fluxes consistent with observations.

High X-ray activity correlates with neutrino emission episodes.

Abstract

We present arguments that the neutrinos observed by IceCube from the active galactic nucleus TXS 0506+056 may originate near its core and not in the blazar jet. The origin of the neutrinos is consistent with the mechanism that produces the neutrino flux observed from the active galaxies NGC 1068 and NGC 4151, but requires an Eddington luminosity cosmic ray flux to compensate for its larger distance. Like NGC 1068, the source is characterized by episodes of high X-ray emission and is gamma-ray-obscured during the 2014 burst, and there is evidence that this is also the case during the short burst in 2017 that produced IC-170922. The observations may be explained as a flux originating in an obscured core within $10 \sim 100$ Schwarzschild radii from the central black hole, which is not transparent to gamma rays from neutral pions accompanying the neutrinos.